The Confession 2
by TayMor
Summary: An idea once planted can never be removed. And when Sakura makes a drunken confession at a wedding party, she has no idea how the ripples will rock her life. Especially when Uchiha Itachi overhears… AU. ItaSaku. Romance Drama Humor
1. 0: The Prologue (1)

**AN: Well. It's been a very long while. Here's my latest plot bunny. It's somewhat a sequel to The Confession, but I wrote that so long ago that my writing style has completely changed. Also, whereas The Confession was primarily a romantic comedy, The Confession 2 (TC2) is romance drama with enough humor to keep things interesting. That being said, to take all that into account, I have time-skipped 5 years after The Confession.**

 **Let me know your thoughts!**

 **Prologue Part One | The Confession**

* * *

Haruno Sakura was struggling.

She was struggling to smile, struggling to think, struggling to breathe.

How was it that after all this time she was still this affected by Uchiha Sasuke? She should have gotten over him by now. He'd been married for five years now, was a father of two, and it was obvious he was still completely besotted with his wife. Still, as Sasuke whirled her across the dancefloor, Sakura was painfully aware that she hadn't gotten over him.

He was still the best she'd ever had.

Sure, she'd lived while pretending that their _thing_ had been over ages ago, and that she was over it, and that Sasuke hadn't been right for her anyway, and she'd thought that she'd been making strides in believing her own lies but tonight proved otherwise.

The familiar manly scent of him, his perfect height, his elegantly cut hair, his impossibly good skin, and those lips… All she wanted to do was stretch up and press her mouth against his.

The way she used to.

Sakura looked away sharply, resenting the smoothness of his expensive suit jacket and the crisp whiteness of his shirt.

"Have you been avoiding me?" he murmured in her ear as they moved across the dancefloor. Sakura hated the way her gut trembled when his breath whispered across her skin.

"What a ridiculous question," Sakura returned with just enough sarcasm to make him smile. He liked when she was sarcastic. His dark gaze used to simmer with heat whenever she'd snarked off at him. After a while she'd done it just to turn him on. How he managed to be in love with someone who didn't have a sarcastic bone in her body still confused Sakura.

"Am I to take that as a yes or a no?" Sasuke asked. His hand was warm in the small of her back and he leaned back slightly so he could meet her gaze. Sakura could have sworn she saw attraction in his obsidian eyes, but she was too affected by him to take it seriously. Knowing her luck it was a projection of her feelings for him.

"Take it however you want," she returned saucily, hating the way her heart thundered in her chest. She shouldn't be like this. He was a married man. His wife was a wonderful woman. He had the cutest kids humanly possible. She shouldn't be like this.

"I will take it as a yes then, not because I want to, but because that's the most logical answer," Sasuke returned. "If you weren't avoiding me you would just have said no." Sakura didn't respond, because what was there to say? She'd been found out and denying it now would only make the truth more obvious.

Honestly she'd been too embarrassed to face him.

He was doing so well after their breakup seven years ago and she had yet to land even one decent boyfriend.

How was it possible for her to have such bad luck romantically? No one worked. Nothing worked. She'd fallen in and out of love so many times these past few years, or at least, so she had thought until she'd stumbled into Sasuke and Hinata at the mall and realized within a minute that she'd never fallen in love at all.

Not since Sasuke.

Not since they'd both figured out that Sasuke didn't want her.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Sakura?" Sasuke drawled in her ear. It was unfair. It was unfair that he'd gotten even more charming after marrying Hinata. He hadn't gotten boring or fat or made any of those considerate developments that married exes were supposed to. No, he'd gotten sexier, more confident, more charming, more _everything_ after being with Hinata and Sakura was conscious that she would never have effected such a change in him.

It had made her feel so small every time she'd seen him.

So she'd been avoiding him.

"That's for me to know and you never to find out," Sakura returned with a secretive smile. Sasuke smirked back at her and leaned closer.

"If I didn't know better I would think you still liked me," he said.

"And you know better because…?" Sakura responded with beautifully convincing faux bristle. Truthfully, her insides were the exact opposite to the soothing classical music swirling around them. She felt almost nauseous from want and self-pity and frustration.

"You know I dislike your boyfriend and you simply assumed I would give you grief about it. But Sakura, it's okay. I could tell you from now that he'll disappoint you, but at the end of the day it's your life. You're a grown woman. You can handle it without my interference," Sasuke said softly. His jaw brushed against her cheek. It was so smooth Sakura knew that his shave must have cost hundreds of dollars.

It was not okay. Sasuke was right, as he usually was, but Sakura was not going to let him know just yet. Kisuke had already disappointed her, not the way she thought he would, but it had been a disappointment nonetheless. Finding out that your boyfriend of five months was gay wasn't exactly fun. He'd been perfect. She'd thought he was perfect. Too good to be true.

He _had_ been too good to be true. She'd felt like she'd been scammed.

"You always did differ from Naruto in that way," Sakura said with a smile, refusing to acknowledge his words about Kisuke. "He just goes right ahead and interferes." Sasuke chuckled softly, the short, raspy sound making her insides burn with longing as memories of that husky sound caressing her ears during late night phone calls, the smirk he used to give her before he kissed her, and the touch of his hands against her skin coursed through her.

She was struggling.

The song came to an end, not a moment too soon, and Sakura stepped away shakily. Before she could recover completely, Sasuke looked over her head, his expression brightening even as his eyes darkened with warmth. Sakura didn't even have to turn to know why his expression had changed.

Hinata was approaching.

"Anata," he said softly, brushing past Sakura to pull his wife against his chest. Sakura hastily gathered her composure and turned with a smile. The expression trembled on unresponsive lips.

As usual, Hinata was radiant. Her simple, modest cream dress made Sakura's sexy black one feel tacky in comparison. Somehow the Hyuuga heiress seemed to glide everywhere she went. She smiled softly up at Sasuke before turning to Sakura.

"Sakura," she breathed. "I f-feel like I haven't seen you in ages." A reluctant smile pushed to Sakura's lips. One couldn't help but like Hinata. Her stutter had almost completely disappeared after she'd started dating Sasuke, a testament to her burgeoning self-confidence. Sakura both loved and hated how good they were for each other.

"She's been avoiding us," Sasuke said, his voice instinctively dropping to the same quiet level his wife used. They even breathed in sync. Hinata looked a bit stricken at Sasuke's words, and turned to Sakura with wide, worried eyes.

"Did I… Did we…?" she started, blinking as she visibly thought back over past actions as she attempted to determine if it had somehow been her fault. Sakura raised her hands, feeling like an ass for inadvertently causing Hinata to think she could ever be at fault.

Even though she was at fault.

But then it wasn't her fault that she was perfect for Sasuke.

"No, no," Sakura said, struggling to find an excuse to offer. "I was a bit caught up with my boyfriend," she said after a moment. Hinata blinked and shared a telling glance with Sasuke. If Hinata was Naruto, she would have said something that would have put Sakura in a completely awkward position and force her to tell the truth on the spot, but Hinata was perfect.

And so she just gave Sakura a soft smile and nodded understandingly.

Sakura hated how lovable Hinata was. She hated how Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but Hinata squeezed his hand to shut him up. She hated that she noticed that.

She was saved from having to stand there in front of their perfection by the opening notes of the next song.

"Enjoy your dance," Sakura said, kissing Hinata lightly on the cheek and making her escape. She made it all the way to the bar, breathing deeply in an attempt to hold back her frustrated tears.

The bartender looked over at her, his gaze hitching at her chest before he wordlessly asked for her order.

"Vodka," she said simply. She was probably going to regret this later, but it beat having to watch Sasuke and Hinata in their little romantic bubble. They were more in love than the newlywed couple whose wedding they were dancing at. Sakura grabbed the shot of vodka split seconds after it was placed before her and downed it in one shot.

It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to tell that Haruno Sakura was drunk.

She was sitting alone at the bar, stroking the rim of a shot glass with her index finger. Itachi sat, leaving one stool between them, and motioned at the bartender. He ordered a glass of red wine, his gaze sliding back over the drunk pinkette before returning to the bartender.

"Do you believe in love?" she asked suddenly, tilting precariously on her stool as she looked at him through slightly unfocused eyes. He didn't have to answer her honestly; she was too drunk to embark on a conversation of any depth, but then again, that was probably the reason he did. She probably wouldn't remember anything later.

"It depends. I believe it happens for some and not for others," he said after a moment. She looked at him blankly for a few seconds before taking another drink of the clear liquid in her glass.

Vodka.

Vodka and sadness was rarely a good mixture, and she was reeking of both.

"Do you think love is a mirrrcle?" she asked, her words slurred almost beyond comprehension. Before Itachi could respond, she continued speaking. "I think it is a curse. I've fallen in love with the one person I can never have, and nothing I do makes it go away."

Itachi didn't respond, but he didn't have to. Sakura kept speaking.

"I'd much rather marry for convenience than for love. Someone financially stable and decent would be perfect for me. I just need to be able to help people. I'd be content with someone who will support me and leave me to my charities. I've had it with love. I don't need it. I'll marry, because I want that, but I'll never do it for love. I just need to be useful. I just need to be of help to someone. Love doesn't work for me. It never has," she said, a bit miserably.

Her words resonated within Itachi.

Itachi thought he hated women who married for money. That wasn't it. He hated women who married for money while pretending to marry for love. Therein lay the deceit. It was the deceit that he hated. Someone like Sakura, however, who would openly marry for financial stability, hold the love… That was much less angering.

It was downright convenient for someone such as him.

Itachi took a sip of his wine as he looked her over.

He knew her, by reputation rather than personally. She was a public figure by default, since her adoptive parents owned one of the largest law firms in the world, but she spent the majority of her time running a collection of charitable organizations for a plethora of causes. She was very well loved.

She might just be exactly what he needed.

Itachi didn't have any love to give, but he had more than stable financials. When she muttered something under her breath and flopped over the bar counter, Itachi blinked.

Or maybe not.

He shook his head at the uncharacteristic, not exactly logical turn of his thoughts and banished the idea. She probably wouldn't do at all.

* * *

 **And this is the end of Part One of the prologue!**

 **Please review ~**


	2. 0: The Prologue (2)

**AN: And here is part 2 of the prologue! This is kinda some of the backstory 'obvious' stuff that I don't really want to get into later. Hahaha. Enjoy ~**

 **Prologue Part Two | The Reaction**

* * *

An idea once planted can never be removed.

Itachi had scoffed at the notion before, but now he wasn't so sure.

 _That_ was probably why he said something with rare impulsiveness when his mother tried, in front of the clan elders, to convince him to attend a marriage date with the Hiroshi heiress.

"I already have someone in mind."

Maybe it was because at the same moment he felt potentially life-threatening suffocation at the mere notion of spending more time with Hiroshi Tamaki, his mind ran on Haruno Sakura's words. Two months had passed since he'd met a drunken Sakura at Inuzuka Kiba's wedding, and he still found it difficult to get her statements out of his mind.

" _I just need to be useful. I just need to be of help to someone. Honestly, I will take financial stability and companionship over love."_

Nothing pissed off an Uchiha elder more than a clan member that didn't want the responsibility the clan put on him. Make that member an heir, and the already frosty disapproving glares turned glacial. His cousin Shisui was proof of that. Shisui had no interest in the clan hierarchy, activities or business. His decision to pursue his musical career had earned him the love of millions, but he was not welcome with the Uchiha and had barely evaded being completely disinherited by making sure he owned enough shares in the Uchiha conglomerate to make him an important shareholder.

Itachi didn't have that luxury. His father wasn't doing well health-wise, and the elders and shareholders were all getting antsy. If Itachi didn't seize his inheritance before either the upcoming shareholders meeting or his father's death, whichever came first, then the inheritance was up for grabs. Everyone knew he was the rightful heir, but that wouldn't stop them from coveting what was his.

Itachi had no intention of letting someone else take his place, but he also had no intention of marrying just anyone to stop it from happening.

" _I've had it with love. I don't need it. I'll marry, because I want that, but I'll never do it for love. I just need to be useful."_

Honestly, he hadn't really intended to sit there listening to her drunken ramblings, but listen he had, and now they were all he could think about. It struck him some time later that even though she had been obviously drunk, she still had an inherent grace. She hadn't been _embarrassing._ Taking that into account, if it was what she wanted, he wasn't against letting her help him. After his father's heart attack, Itachi had found himself almost subconsciously looking to Sakura whenever they ended up attending the same event. To his relief, there were no more drunken displays. It seemed that their first meeting had been on a particularly bad night for her. He did recall her saying something about an unrequited love.

Truthfully, he was kicking himself for not thinking of her sooner. Then again he'd had no idea that she wouldn't require his love. Honestly Sakura seemed like the type of person that would thrive on love, and her obvious pain at not having her feelings returned supported that, but now that he knew she was looking for neither it nor the pretense of it from a potential husband, there was nothing stopping him from making an offer. The Uchiha elders were already disgruntled by his apparent lack of interest in marrying, and since that was a prerequisite for his inheritance, they took it to mean he was uninterested in taking on his duties as heir.

The shareholder's meeting was a mere two months away. Just enough time for him to really find out more about Sakura as a person and come to a decision. The other Uchiha families were already plotting and scheming away in hopes of seizing an opportunity to take his place.

It wouldn't happen.

Itachi had resigned himself to accept the elders' decision if it didn't work out with Sakura. It would be a loveless marriage, more of a business transaction than anything, but he would most likely have to pander to the wishes of his in-laws. He knew his clan would most likely choose to be allied to another clan for the sake of getting even more power. That meant that as the heir and the connecting link between the two families, he would be drowning in clan politics.

Contrary to popular belief, although he was very good at navigating through it, Itachi was not a fan of the trappings of clan politics. He was sick of it, honestly, but diligently attended the meetings and did his duties to the best of his ability because he was responsible and obedient by nature. It wasn't as if there weren't perks to being heir, but the entire affair was restrictive and stressful. If he didn't have to double the pressure by taking on another clan he would gratefully avoid it.

Sakura didn't have a clan.

She was the adopted, and beloved daughter of the Sarutobi. They were too small to be considered a clan, but they owned one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. She was best friends with his brother and the son of the President. She was more than worthy of his attention, and it wouldn't be difficult to have her accepted by the elders. They wouldn't suggest her themselves, Itachi knew that, but they wouldn't need much convincing of her eligibility.

But first Itachi needed to be positive that she was The One. She was the only person he knew of that would straight up marry him for the convenience, hold the love. She probably wouldn't even need to be friends with him. Just the thought of not having to explain his long work hours, cut back on his business travels or make any changes to his life while reaping the benefits of a good match was enough to lessen his ever-present headache.

He would have a talk with her when they next met.

"-Itachi?"

Itachi blinked, eyes refocusing on the almost feverishly gleeful shine in his mother's gaze.

"Please repeat…" he prompted, conscious that he hadn't heard a single word since he'd begun thinking of Sakura's potential usefulness.

"Who is it that you have in mind?" Mikoto repeated, leaning forward in her chair.

Itachi faltered.

"I… haven't made her aware of my intentions as yet. I will inform you as soon as I'm sure that she is receptive-"

"Aren't you just stalling for time?" one of his distant uncles interrupted.

"Kentaro," his mother chided, glaring at the offender. Uchiha Kentaro had the decency to squirm and clear his throat, but did not say more.

"How soon can we expect an update?" another of his uncles asked, raising a salt-and-pepper brow. "As much as we would like to believe that you _aren't_ stalling for time, you haven't shown any interest in marriage before now." Itachi fixed him with a long look before responding.

"There is a time for everything."

In his case, this was probably the time for doing something completely out of his nature; taking the words of a drunken woman as something important enough to hinge his entire future on.

* * *

 **And that's it for now! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Once again, this will be quite heavily reader-centrically written, meaning the apart from the underlying plot, chapter content will be largely up to the review content.**

 **I had so much fun with the chapter title suggestions last time that I definitely want to do it again! Unlike last time there is no title format, so I am looking forward to your suggestions! What would you like to see in chapter 1?**

 **How do you think Itachi should propose? The next chapter will be dedicated to the person whose suggestion was chosen! (^_^)**


	3. 1: Secret Omiai (1)

**And here is the long awaited first chapter… Merry Christmas to you all!**

 **Chapter One: Secret Omiai (1)**

* * *

Once again, Haruno Sakura was struggling.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

It was also a truth universally acknowledged that Uchiha Itachi was classified as a man in possession of a fortune.

A very large one at that.

That said, never in Haruno Sakura's wildest dreams did she imagine that _that_ wife would be _her._ And as she was an award-winning fantasy author, it was safe to say that her dreams could get pretty wild.

She blinked slowly, her eyes wide as she attempted to process his words. She was gaping at him like a freshly caught fish, and frankly, her current state of breathlessness made her feel like one. She knew she was gaping.

She knew, but she couldn't do anything about it.

This was some Grade-A shock.

Uchiha-san, on the other hand, looked completely serene. He elegantly sliced a piece off his filet mignon and took a slow, graceful bite. Sakura swallowed awkwardly and struggled not to choke. Her eyes burned from her efforts to match his grace.

He had to be joking.

He didn't _look_ like he was joking, but he _had_ to be. It would be a really sick joke, but Sakura would probably be hysterical with relieved laughter when it was was revealed.

They'd spoken all of three times that Sakura could recall, but he was proposing marriage? Sakura almost wondered if he had been secretly in love with her, but the idea died a swift and premature death.

She watched him swallow, his Adam's Apple bobbing smoothly under the smooth, closely shaven skin of his neck.

No.

There was no way he was in love with her. She couldn't imagine him getting passionate about _anything,_ much less being so in love he'd propose to someone he didn't even know.

If he had been Sasuke, on the other hand…

A sharp pang streaked through Sakura's chest and she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

Sasuke.

Did he know about this? It couldn't be… had he possibly encouraged it? Was she so far out of his affection that he'd suggest her to his quiet, unfeeling older brother? By all reports, the Uchiha heir was next to a business-minded automaton.

A workaholic.

A corporate robot, albeit a genius one.

How could someone like _that_ find it within them to propose to someone like _her_ after speaking to her only three times?

It couldn't be… had he done some sort of background check on her?

Maybe some sort of mathematical formula that somehow claimed that they were compatible?

"Why…?" Sakura finally heard herself ask. She probably shouldn't jump to too many conclusions, but his answer made that rather difficult.

"I believe we would be a very good fit, " he responded, taking a sip of wine. He glanced up at her after resting the glass back on the table, his eyes heavy-lidded, but somehow completely focused. His manner of speaking was so rigid and formal; so completely different from his younger brother's slightly raspy, _incredibly sexy_ voice, that Sakura found herself juxtaposed somewhere amidst annoyed, creeped out and pissed off.

Automaton.

He sounded bored of her already, as if this proposal was merely an afterthought.

A means to an end.

Unlike the fiery passion of his younger brother, Sakura had the spiteful thought that Uchiha Itachi's favorite position might be missionary. With all the lights off. A few lackluster thrusts before it was all over.

She wanted to leave.

As handsome as he was, there was something fundamentally lacking about him. He didn't attract her at all. There was no fire. No spark. No little _something_ that kept her on edge like Sasuke was so good at doing.

He wasn't Sasuke.

Unlike Sasuke, though, he wasn't happily married to an heiress.

The thought was sobering.

Even though Sakura was an heiress in her own right, she was nothing compared to Hyuuga Hinata. Not even _once_ had Sasuke looked at Sakura with an _ounce_ of the adoration and respect that he reserved for Hinata.

Sakura didn't know their full story, and she didn't want to.

Just the thought of them was enough to crush her soul.

Her soul that was already taking a pummelling from this situation.

If another dark-eyed Uchiha had surprised her with a proposal, she would have been on Cloud Nine; knowing Sasuke, he would have made an event of it, in keeping with her preferences. She loved being shown affection.

PDA was so far up her street it slept in the same bed.

' _Your likes haven't gotten you anywhere,'_ Sakura groused inwardly, poking at her lettuce with her fork.

"You probably have a contract," she muttered, her tone very close to a sneer of disgust.

"Yes," Uchiha-san replied without hesitation, reaching down beside him for a legal-sized envelope stamped with the Uchiha-Corp logo.

Kami.

He'd actually brought a contract.

On company stationery.

"Please, read it carefully and we may continue negotiations based on your conclusions," he said softly, dabbing at the corners of his unsullied lips with a snow-white napkin.

Of all the pretentious, unfeeling and bland… _Negotiations!?_ He wanted to continue _negotiations?_

A disgusted scoff left Sakura's lips, but Uchiha-san didn't even seem to notice.

Sakura felt as if agreeing to this 'negotiation' would be like condemning herself to life inside a marble mausoleum.

He probably thought of her as another of his real-estate deals. Not to mention the fact that her adoptive parents were head of the field when it came to real-estate and contract law.

Oh.

That might be it.

The thought gave her pause, and the corner of the envelope crinkled within her tightening fist as the realization dawned on her.

She'd been so confused when she'd received his invitation to a business meeting as to _why_ he'd have proposed such a thing, and through her assistant at that. There was no connection she could think of that existed between a real-estate mogul and a fantasy novelist.

If she had been requesting something of him, perhaps access to one of his numerous locations for the purpose of research or some similar thing, it would have made more sense. The other way around, though? No, that had not aligned to any logical reasons she could have come up with.

She'd made the mistake to be curious. A little excited even, at the prospect of something fresh.

But now, it was painfully clear. Blatantly obvious. As transparent as spring water.

Despite the potential happiness and joy and flattery she could have been feeling if Uchiha Itachi was _anyone_ other than himself, she was in hell right now. This wasn't anything exciting.

This was _business._

Sakura shook her head.

He hadn't even bothered with the masquerade of pretending to be attracted to her. He'd barely managed a little small-talk at the beginning of the meal, and even then she'd sensed it was merely a preamble to something else. He'd waited until she was a little more than halfway through her meal before cleanly and calmly proposing marriage.

Now, she had no more appetite.

She just wanted to go home.

She had a nice warm spot in her fireplace that she figured was perfect for the paper in her hand. Yes. She'd burn the vile thing and tell him in an excellently worded email how sincerely sorry she was to reject his kind offer.

There was no way in Kami's seven heavens that she would agree to marry that ice-block of a human. Not even if he was Sasuke's older brother.

No.

 _Especially_ because he was Sasuke's older brother. The Uchiha was a scarily traditional clan, if what she heard was true. There would be clan meetings galore. She would most _certainly_ be required to attend.

She would never survive being on the arm of a human iceberg while having to exist in the same room as an erupting volcano of blazing passion and futile desire.

She'd be killing herself twice.

* * *

 **Let me know what you thought!**

 **I'm attempting a different, more flawed Sakura than I have previously tried. Would love to know how you perceive her so far. As flawed as I am trying to make her, I don't want her to seem too pathetic, so let me know how she comes across!**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Looking forward to the feedback~**


	4. 1: Secret Omiai (2)

**Technically, this is still chapter one, but please review on last chapter as well (^_^). That said, enjoy!**

 **Chapter One: Secret Omiai (2)**

* * *

The meeting had gone well.

Itachi took a sip of his wine, a pre-winter breeze dragging chilled fingers over his bare chest as he watched the sparkling Konoha city lights from his bedroom balcony. He recalled the meeting with Sakura-san, running over the event in his mind.

They'd both arrived on time. She'd seemed a bit confused, but with just enough curiosity to make him feel as if she might be receptive to his proposal. She had been very demurely and attractively dressed, in a crisp, white pantsuit and patent leather pumps. He'd caught a glimpse of their reflection in the restaurant's shiny glass artwork, and they had complemented each other satisfactorily.

The fact that their colour scheme had matched, her vibrant pink hair breaking the starkness of their black and white attire, suited them as a couple very well.

As appearances mattered to his clan, Itachi made the mental note to coordinate their apparel if and when he formally introduced her to them.

Yes, the meeting had gone very well.

Better than he'd hoped.

Although he didn't quite group her with all the other rich socialite heiresses out there, her composure had been remarkably different to what he'd expected.

Haruno-san had been quieter than he'd assumed she would be… much quieter than he'd expected, but all in all, she had seemed open to the concept of marriage. He'd been quite pleased that she'd expected him to bring some documentation; this showed that she was logical, despite her occupation as a fantasy novelist. He'd expected her to be somewhat scattered, taking that into consideration, but in fact she had been very calm.

Almost bordering on docile.

Itachi tended to like a bit more spark in his female companions, but his father would like that. He'd look down on her profession, but he'd be well pleased with her disposition and family. He'd be even more appreciative of her connections.

Itachi took another sip of wine as he thought about their conversation.

She'd accepted his words with relative ease, and while he was a bit wary of the fact that she said next to nothing to prod further into his intentions, he supposed that she probably intended to read through his proposal contract before voicing her questions and/or concerns.

' _She was a bit boring…'_ he mused. He'd really quite expected a bit more of a reaction from her. Then again, he wasn't really interested in having an actual emotional relationship with her, so he supposed it didn't matter too much. It wouldn't be too wise for any distractions to come in at this point. That said, even his business relationships improved when his partner was at least an interesting conversationalist.

It was a bit late to retract his offer at this junction, however Itachi found himself mentally recounting the reasons why he'd initially thought this was a good idea.

The first thing, outside of her slurred confession a few months ago and the obvious draw of her family background, was that she had made a name for herself. Yes, she was the heiress, adopted or no, of the Sarutobi family, but it was impressive that she had made something of herself in a field that was completely separate.

The second thing was that she was a charitable individual. Although she was more public than he was in this regard, Itachi appreciated people that were kind and shared their excess with the less fortunate. The good image from her benevolent acts would blend nicely with his, and his merit in the public sentiment would increase.

Thirdly, she was young and beautiful, but seemed down-to-earth and reasonable. They would look good together.

Other reasons included her financial stability, assets and so on, but one of the things Itachi valued the most was her busy schedule. Should they marry, their busy schedules would keep them out of each other's hair, and they would be able to maintain lives that carried forward many of the benefits of singlehood.

They would hardly have to see each other and that suited Itachi just fine. That and the fact that they had no feelings for each other was a big plus. It would be much easier to be rational.

Itachi drained the last of the wine in his glass and poured himself a refill.

Yes.

Itachi usually took a while to make a decision, but when he did, he very rarely regretted his choices. He didn't think he would regret this one.

He allowed his mind to drift as he enjoyed the rest of his wine and the city scenery, and his mind slowly moved on to other things.

He needed to go to Amegakure.

He'd seen the most spectacular piece of land in the background of an image placed in an article he'd read, and his initial research told him that the owner might be open to selling.

He intended to pay a visit and turn that probability into certainty. He withdrew his mobile phone from his pocket and quickly used the thumb of his right hand to type a message to his assistant, reminding Yamato to book tickets for a flight two days from now.

* * *

"Don't throw it in there!"

Ino snatched the still-sealed envelope from Sakura's hand before she could toss it into the crackling fireplace.

"And I should keep it because…?" Sakura returned, trying in vain to reclaim the envelope from her best friend. The taller female held it high, just out of Sakura's reach.

"Well, because we don't know what it says yet. Why do you always make decisions without getting all the information?" Ino said on an exasperated sigh. The Yamanaka heiress had come over with chicken and beer mere minutes after Sakura had messaged her with a ten-line rant about her 'business meeting'.

"I can't think what other information I am going to need," Sakura snapped. "He's boring and rigid. He could be offering me the stars for all I care," Sakura muttered. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Kami, you are impatient. Let's at least see what the guy has to offer. He's not going to be Sasuke. No one will, and I've honestly had enough of you looking for him in other people. Pardon me for saying, but that ship has long sailed. I'm going to be one hundred percent real with you now, so brace yourself," Ino said, sticking a fried chicken leg into Sakura's hand and flopping backwards onto the couch.

Sakura didn't have time to get her wits about her before Ino continued, "Even if Hinata and those kids died or left Sasuke, and you will go to the depths of hell for ever wishing that on those sweet people, but even then Sasuke would never be satisfied with you. Give up and move on."

Ino was her best friend.

Ino knew her better than anyone did.

Ino _knew_ how much those words would hurt, but the blonde had said them anyway, and had ripped Sakura's heart out, threw it in the dirt and crushed it with her shiny red designer heels in the process.

But Ino wouldn't be Ino if she allowed Sakura to focus on that pain much less wallow in it. She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder with a flick of her wrist and withdrew the contract from its envelope before Sakura's first tear could even make it out of the duct.

"The first thing… Ohhh, lovely, it's scented. Did you realize that this paper is scented?" She shoved the expensive paper into Sakura's face, giving her a whiff of some delicate, but unmistakably manly fragrance before withdrawing it. Before Sakura's mind could even process the pain or the scent of the paper, Ino began to read.

"Okay, so the first thing on this contract is 'mandatory mutual respect'. Firm words, but I already like where this is going. That is already an improvement on all your previous relationships."

This was true, and Sakura was still unsure of which of Ino's stinging comments she should focus on while being somewhat distracted by the masculine fragrance that still lingered in the air in front of her.

This was what Ino always did.

She moved and spoke so quickly that even Sakura's legendary snap decisions couldn't keep up. By the time she processed whatever it was Ino was trying to say much less formed a conclusion, Ino would already have managed to have gotten her full point across.

She opened her mouth to say something, _anything,_ but Ino steamrolled her.

"The next heading is about… 'Financials. Both parties keep and maintain their own personal accounts. After engagement, a shared bank account will be created for relationship and ceremonial expenses, and any other purchases that affect both parties, such as household items'... yada yada yada," Ino muttered as she scanned the words on the contract. "Oh! Listen to this: 'Contribution to the shared bank account is optional for the bride, and the amount of her contribution is up to her discretion should she opt in."

Sakura blinked.

Ino smirked.

Sakura wordlessly asked a question she couldn't seem to formulate into words. This was what happened when she was thrown for a loop.

"He's basically saying that he'll take care of you and you don't have to worry about money or even contributing financially to your shared life. This is what people of his kind do when the primary benefit of a proposal isn't financial. He's also saying you can contribute however much you want to, if at all."

"How do you even-" Sakura sputtered.

"It's all very clear. I mean, I know you're not a genius, but I hope you hadn't jumped to so much of a conclusion that you can't even process this much. It's really not rocket science," Ino returned.

Sakura took a deep breath and mentally shook her head.

It shouldn't be this difficult. The words on this contract so far were actually simple and direct, but she had been so against the idea from the get-go that the logical benefits were taking a bit of getting used to.

She hated this.

She took a deep breath, wanting to just stop right here and now, but Ino was relentless.

"'Family and clan events. Attendance is mandatory for _both_ parties', yes," she said after a pause. "The 'both' is italicized," she clarified before continuing, "'and for public events as well, unless otherwise agreed upon beforehand. To facilitate this, it is proposed that a shared calendar be generated and kept up to date by both parties or their assistants, so that the schedule of the couple respects the schedules of the individuals.'" Ino stopped there and looked up at Sakura with one eyebrow raised.

"For someone that doesn't know anything about you, this proposal is almost creepily aligned to your interests."

Sakura refused to respond, but she wasn't so annoyed anymore. She was mostly salty at Ino's smugness at this point. Who wouldn't be, with someone relentlessly eye-beaming 'I told you so' at you?

Ino smirked again and continued reading. She scanned the document wordlessly, her pointer finger raised in a silent command for Sakura to be quiet, even as she nodded occasionally or 'mmhmm'd her agreement.

Sakura was beginning to get impatient, and was just about wondering why she was even obeying Ino's finger when the blonde looked up at her and grinned suggestively.

"What-" Sakura began.

" _Marital obligations,"_ Ino drawled, her eyes meeting Sakura's. As much as she despised it, hated it, and wanted to refuse its existence, a light blush tinted Sakura's cheeks.

She was curious, and she hated it.

She had to admit, that as dryly as the contract was worded, it _was_ a contract after all, the clauses Ino had read so far were largely in her favor. If she really wasn't to be led by the desire for love, it was pretty close to perfection.

"'There are no obligations or restrictions placed on the marriage bed. Any and all marital intercourse must be consensual and at the discretion of both parties. Any extramarital affairs, however, are to be kept at a minimum and with the maximum discretion to avoid negative impact on the other party. Any extramarital affair becoming public will result in the enabling of the immediate annulment of the union, at the other party's discretion.'

"So basically," Ino continued, "It's an open-ish relationship. He's not forcing you into anything, but he's not asking you to be celibate either, and I suppose in the spirit of mutual respect, if you're planning to sleep with someone other than him, keep it on the downlow," Ino said.

"I'm not attracted to him, though," Sakura objected.

"You don't have to be," Ino replied.

"I know, I'm just saying," Sakura returned.

"He's not saying you have to sleep with him. It doesn't seem like he's desperate to get in bed with you either," Ino reasoned.

Somehow, Ino's comment and the openness of the proposed relationship status bothered her, because the thought of her potential husband having an extramarital affair was not appealing in the slightest. So she had no idea exactly why she was verbalizing her lack of attraction to him.

The words had somehow just come out.

"Is that the end of it?" she asked impatiently. She didn't want to talk about this anymore.

Even though it was pretty much normal, and she should be used to it by now, she really hated when Ino bossed her around like this. She didn't know why she allowed it, but then again, she thought morosely, pretty much everything Ino had bossed her into had worked out in her favor.

Nothing she went after herself really panned out, and Sasuke was a prime example of that. While Ino had encouraged Sakura from the get-go to consider someone like Naruto, who had clearly been enamored with her and who always let that show, Sakura had ignored her. Now, even Naruto had moved on, and she had registered as a mere blip on Sasuke's emotional radar.

"There's a bit more, but we don't need to go into it at this point," Ino said, taking a bite of chicken. "He does say that this contract, or rather this proposal, is open for negotiation. You might want to read it over yourself. Give it some serious thought, because honestly, you've been killing yourself to live up to a standard that you set by killing yourself in order to impress your family. You put so much unnecessary pressure on yourself, and while there is nothing wrong with being a high achiever, this much is unhealthy. You need to kinda get out on your own, and for someone claiming to be uninterested in love, you should either face the fact that you've been lying to yourself or that this contract is damn near perfect."

Sakura bit her lower lip until the metallic taste of blood hit her tongue. She wanted to rail and scream. Ask questions like 'What do you even know?' or 'Do you even know me?', but quite frankly, Ino did know her. Ino had been there with her every step of the way.

At this point, though, it felt like she wasn't even in control of her own life.

With all her work and her crazy schedule and her writing and traveling and publicity, the only thing she did that felt like her actual decision was related to her charities.

The words she said sometime in the past came back to haunt her. The setting was hazy, the exact words were blurred in her mind, but the feeling behind them was as clear as crystal.

" _I'd much rather marry for convenience than for love. Someone financially stable and decent would be perfect for me. I just need to be able to help people. I'd be content with someone who will support me and leave me to my charities."_

Ino handed the contract to Sakura as she took a sip of beer. She swallowed before continuing.

"You can present all the conditions you want met, and if he accepts, marry him and live however you want. Honestly, outside of Sasuke, which is impossible, I'm not convinced that you even know what you want for yourself or out of your own life."

The words hit Sakura like a shower of rocks. They hit her dead on, all of them, and they hurt like hell.

What made it worse was that, once again, she had no comeback apart from the stinging tears of frustration that she struggled to hold back.

As if Ino sensed her dilemma, the blonde reached for her and pulled her into a comforting half snuggle.

"Let's watch some K-drama," the blonde cooed. "The final episode of An Indispensable Assistant is finally out."

* * *

 **Hehe, I couldn't resist, and you guys should know what I mean by that!**

 **Last chapter I told you I was trying for a different kind of Sakura to the type I usually write. You should be kinda able to tell more from this chapter. I think it will make for good enough character development. I'm planning to show a bit more of her next post. Also, trying for a different and more important Ino character than I have before. I'm not sure yet if I am going to include her PoV or not yet.**

 **Are there any secondary character PoVs that you would want to see? Please let me know in the reviews or by PM!**


	5. 2: Preconceived Notions (1)

**Merry Christmas my beautiful readers. Here is a little gift for you guys. Hehe! Please do enjoy! There might be another one of these for you in the near future if I get enough reviews huhu *shameless hahahahaha* ^_^.**

 **As you may notice, I am doing these in arc style to get them out to you faster. You can let me know what you think of this concept!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Preconceived Notions (1)**

* * *

She'd reread the proposal.

On her own this time.

Without Ino, without her own preconceptions and prejudice, and with a warm cup of coffee and her favourite fuzzy blanket, it was a completely different experience.

When she was by herself she didn't have to face the embarrassment of acknowledging that she was wrong. Even inwardly she could admit that her defensiveness rose without her express permission when she was around others.

And now she came to it that perhaps, on some level, she had misjudged Uchiha Itachi. She hadn't quite made a 180° turn in her assessment, but she came to it that automaton he might be, but at least he was programmed to be thoughtful.

He _must_ have done some research on her.

There was _no_ way he could have drafted something this perfect without doing at least _some_ research. This must be why he was considered a business genius.

Grudging though it might be, the terms of his contract… or rather, this _proposal_ were quite suited to her.

It was attractive.

He'd even made allowances for her more philanthropic ventures and her charities, and all he seemed to want in return was her participation, as his wife, at all clan events. She would be providing him with the considerable support of getting the clan elders on his side and with the release of his inheritance.

It was straightforward.

It was direct.

It was positively clinical, but it was also considerate.

Considering her romantic position, she would be a fool not to at least ponder it further.

She had never heard Uchiha Itachi's name being mentioned in any scandals, so she was taking it to mean that if he wasn't a decent man he was at least discreet.

She didn't know how she would deal with how absolutely _boring_ he presented himself but she supposed that maybe, _just maybe,_ there was more to him. Enough so that she could possibly meet with him under different circumstances.

Under less… annoying circumstances.

The thought of possibly living her own life, while enjoying some element of companionship and finally being free of the stigma of being Sasuke's discarded leftovers was…

It was something she could possibly find very freeing.

As a married woman she would no longer have to face those stares, and even if people pitied her because of Uchiha-san's personality it wouldn't be because she was never chosen or because she was left behind yet again.

Knowing she was adopted was one thing. Being continuously abandoned afterwards didn't help her emotional health one bit.

She would rather she had never found out that she was found in a box under a tree.

Left for dead.

Clenching her teeth against the turn of her thoughts, Sakura put the proposal back in the envelope and pulled her blanket closer around her body.

The fire crackled gently, and outside it began to snow. Sakura's eyelids grew droopy and she absently pulled a cushion under her head.

* * *

She hadn't called.

Now that it had come this far, Itachi wanted things to be wrapped up.

He wanted to at least get an update.

He turned to look at Yamato.

His secretary had the gall to smile in what _should_ have been a secretive manner, but which was actually very blatant. And smug.

"She has not yet replied, Uchiha-san," Yamato offered, that infuriating smile still lingering at the corner of his lips. Itachi turned away wordlessly and focused instead at the videos on his tablet of the scenery of the land in Amegakure.

It was spectacular.

Their stay in Amegakure had been prolonged for a week, but there had been no word from Haruno-san. Not even an email, as he had discovered when he checked his accounts throughout the day.

He'd even opened his Spam folder just in case, but it had been consistently empty.

He'd thought the meeting had gone well.

Now, however, he was not so sure.

Yamato lifted a hand and accepted a call on his Bluetooth receiver.

"Ah, Mitarashi-san. Hai, hai… yes his schedule is free at the moment. Please hold while I transfer the call." At this point he looked up at Itachi and said, "Mitarashi Kenzou. He's calling for a personal matter, he says."

Itachi blinked.

His business deal with Mitarashi Kenzou had already been signed. What the man could possibly need further was… well, a mystery.

He took the call.

"Mitarashi-san. It's a pleasure."

"Ah, Itachi-kun," the man started jovially. Itachi's brows pulled together. That was a bit more casual of an address than he expected.

He didn't have time to voice his objections, for Mitarashi-san continued without pause.

"It turns out there is an opportunity for us to become… closer." The man laughed in blatant self-pleasure. "My daughter seemed quite taken with you. We are both from respectable families with good standing. What say you to an omiai?"

Itachi blinked.

Mitarashi Anko was taken with him? Based on her comportment during the contract negotiations, this was not a surprise. She was attractive. A bit older than him, but then again Itachi had always identified with people older than he was. He'd been somewhat charmed by her directness.

She had been a most interesting conversationalist as well; saucy and passionate, her comments riddled generously with clever innuendo that had brought a smile to his lips on more than one occasion.

He had even contemplated taking her up on her offer of a night or two together. She had certainly been attractive enough, and confident enough to catch his interest. He had the idea that intercourse with her would be vigorous and full of fire.

Just the way he liked it.

She had even claimed to be the type to enjoy moody conversations over wine when lovemaking was completed. As if she knew he was that type.

He would most likely enjoy being with her.

But marriage?

"An…" he repeated, still a bit unsure he had heard correctly.

Just then, his mobile phone began to vibrate on his desk. Itachi glanced down and blinked again.

"An omiai," Mitarashi repeated.

The Caller ID registered his caller.

 _ **Haruno Sakura**_.

* * *

 **Reveiwww my lovelies ( ^ 3 ^)**


	6. 2: Preconceived Notions (2)

**As hinted, here is the second part!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Preconceived Notions (2)**

* * *

Itachi froze for a moment.

His brain reeled. Logically it didn't make sense for him to turn Mitarashi-san down without first confirming whether or not Haruno-san was willing to go through with the contract.

Strangely enough, it occurred to him that his first choice hadn't changed.

Haruno Sakura.

Maybe it had been something about her gaze that fateful night at the wedding, but really and truly Itachi had no idea why he felt she would be a better choice than Mitarashi Anko. Anko-san had everything and more than Haruno-san seemed to portray.

He would have to chalk it up to intuition.

A gut feeling.

Itachi much preferred to move based on facts, but so far his intuition hadn't failed him.

His mobile phone continued to vibrate on his desk and there was a loaded silence on the other end of the phone pressed to his ear.

"Ah…" Itachi found himself saying finally. "This has come as a bit of a surprise. As I do not like to make decisions arbitrarily, please allow me a few days to think it over."

Yes. The most he could do right now was to buy himself some time.

By the time he got Mitarashi-san off the line, Haruno-san's call had already gone to voicemail.

That was of no consequence. Since she had called first, he now had leave to return the call and follow up.

Itachi took up his phone, rose, and walked with near-silent footsteps over the carpeted floor of his office. When he got to the massive windows, he stopped and stared out at the snowy Konoha city for a few moments before he slid his free hand in his pocket. He looked down and tapped the 'Return Call' button with his thumb.

He blinked slowly as the phone rang, but somehow he was a bit startled by the distracted sound of her voice when she answered.

"Mushi mushi… Haruno Sakura speaking."

Being unable to see her had the effect of revealing to him what a pleasant voice she had.

"It's Uchiha Itachi," he said by way of greeting. "I'm returning your call." There was a soft gasp on the other end of the line.

"Oh, Uchiha-san!" she exclaimed, albeit softly. "I thought perhaps… no, never mind. Ah… how are you?" It was a bit amazing how smooth and cultured she sounded even while flustered.

There was no mistaking good teaching, which she most certainly must have received in the Sarutobi household.

"I am well, thank you. And yourself?" Itachi responded, somewhat impatiently. If these pleasantries were prolonged, it would make way for the onset of awkwardness. He did not do very well in awkward situations.

"Ah, hai… I am fine. I… I read the proposal," she continued then, thankfully without unnecessary preamble. It was interesting how she called the contract a proposal.

That obviously meant she had changes to bring forward.

Itachi stayed silent, and it took a moment for her to realize that he was waiting for her to continue. In that time, Itachi found himself watching the snowflakes fall and thinking that today was a wonderful day.

"I… Thank you, it was a very considerate ah… _document,"_ she said then.

But.

"But there are a few additions I would make…" she went on.

Additions.

Not changes, per se… Merely things he might have overlooked or perhaps not thought of.

"Are you free today for lunch?" he asked. "We could meet, and discuss your proposed… _additions._ " There was no sense prolonging it.

"Ah today?" she repeated. "I…" She sounded flustered.

"If there is a time better suited-" Itachi began.

"Oh no, no," she objected. Itachi had the mental image of her waving her hands in the air. "Today is fine. Ah… will one in the afternoon be okay?"

Itachi looked down at his watch.

9:23 AM.

"One will be fine. If you text me your address, I will send a driver to pick you up," he confirmed.

* * *

White fingernails scraped through thick, silky black hair and a soft moan was dragged from between full pink lips. Vivid blue eyes, clouded with desire, were half-covered by heavy eyelids as masculine lips pressed heated kisses against a long, porcelain white throat.

"Mmm, darling. I missed you," Yamanaka Ino sighed when long, tan fingers sifted through her blonde hair. Her lover looked into her eyes, ebony meeting cerulean, and smiled softly.

"And I hungered for you. You have no idea what the agony of being stuck with a bunch of men thousands of miles from home feels like," he murmured, voice low and raspy. His large, slightly calloused hands framed her face, his thumbs sliding back and forth over her lower lip.

"You weren't that far," Ino giggled. "I was the one in Suna this week."

"Exactly. Don't get it twisted, babe. I love Konoha with all my heart but you…" His warm hand slid from her cheek, down her neck, and over her chest to cover the still-rapid beat of her heart. " _You_ are home to me. Never forget that."

Ino's eyes watered, but she hid how touched she was by covering his lips with hers; she would never hear the end of it if he knew how much his sappy words affected her. His strong, tanned arms wrapped around her immediately as he returned her kiss with a passion she never got tired of.

He was perfection, to her.

The only thing left was for them to be able to go public. But right now, that was impossible.

She hid a different sort of tears by pressing her face into the warm curve of his neck as he laid her backwards onto the large, luxurious hotel bed.

What she wouldn't give to be able to do this in her own bed.

He'd just wrapped her long legs around his narrow waist when her phone rang. This particular ringtone, Ino's favourite new song, heralded the call of her best friend.

Her lover froze and locked pleading obsidian eyes with hers.

"Surely she can wait another hour… or even just forty-five minutes…" he moaned, dragging his fingers temptingly down the side of her stomach.

"Babe…" Ino murmured, her apology in her tone.

There was almost nothing that she wouldn't do for Sakura.

She picked up the phone, swatting her lover's face in protest when he dropped soul-melting kisses to her neck and chest in an obvious attempt to seduce her away from the incoming call.

"This is unfair. She always has you…" he muttered, openly pouting. His blatant displeasure was insanely adorable. Ino kissed his eyelids, a surefire way to calm him down, and pressed his cheek to her chest.

Still muttering, he obediently lay his face against her chest and curled his larger body around hers, taking deep, lazy breaths as she played with his earlobe.

"Hey," Ino said as she answered.

"Help me…" Sakura moaned. "I called him… and he wants to meet today."

"Itachi does?" Ino's lover asked, lifting his head to stare into Ino's eyes. She pushed his head back down.

"Who was that?" Sakura asked. Ino contemplated for a moment before giving a low, satisfied chuckle.

"My man," she said blatantly. "Now what is the problem?"

It had taken Sakura a while, but it seemed she had finally decided to give Uchiha Itachi's proposal a chance. Ino could safely say that she had more knowledge of Uchiha Itachi than Sakura did, and although she wouldn't tell Sakura anything because the pinkette could be annoyingly stubborn, she had a feeling that Itachi was the right man for her.

Telling Sakura that directly, though, would be asking for her to find every fault possible with the man and therefore never give the guy a chance.

Ino knew Sakura was bullshitting herself; trying to convince herself that she was done with love, but Ino knew better. Sakura also thought that what she and Sasuke had had was love. She couldn't have been more wrong.

What Sasuke and Hinata had was love.

Sasuke and Sakura had just been Sasuke taking advantage while pandering to his cowardice. Ino had known about Sasuke's feelings for Hinata long before they had become public knowledge, and unlike Sakura, she had been very interested in their story.

Suffice to say, there was no singular point in which Sakura ever stood a chance.

Back then, telling Sakura that had only had the effect of the pinkette trying even harder to hold on to him.

She had failed miserably.

And she had suffered.

Sakura didn't need a romance packed with frightfully intense feelings. She needed an adult, a strong male who knew himself and what he was about. Someone steady enough to allow Sakura the chance to grow instead of frantically attempting to change herself in order to please him.

And Sakura was a lovable creature. If she would be true to herself long enough for someone else to discover her, Ino had no doubts that it would be easy for her to find love.

She didn't intend to see Sakura shattered ever again.

And it had taken a bit of manipulation that left up to Ino would never be revealed, but things were finally lining up. She just had to keep Sakura calm enough to see that this proposal was possibly the best thing that could ever have happened to her.

* * *

 **As usual, I await your feedback! To whoever this still applies to, once again, Merry Christmas! (^_^)**


	7. 2: Preconceived Notions (3)

**Thank you guys so much for the responses! Here is the final installment of Chapter 2!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Preconceived Notions (3)**

* * *

What was she to do?

The longer she waited the more flustered she was going to get, which was why she had agreed to meet for lunch later.

But now she was regretting her decision.

Ino had told her to go for it. To at least voice her wishes and see how things went from there.

After pondering things for over a week, Sakura had come to a… no, _several_ conclusions.

The first of these was that she had absolutely no intention of marrying Uchiha Itachi just for the conditions stated in his proposal. That alone, in her estimation, was not marriage.

She wanted companionship without the constant fear of being left behind. Removing the love, she at least wanted some kind of amiable relationship.

The second conclusion was that she had no desire to seek romance outside of their marriage, and she had no intention of agreeing to allow Uchiha-san to do so either. Regardless of the classification of their marriage she would rather suck it up and sleep with him than enter into some meaningless contract marriage that allowed for the partners to sleep with whomever.

The third conclusion was that she refused to allow people to identify her relationship with Uchiha Itachi as what it was. The more people that believed there were feelings involved, the better.

But now that she had come to these conclusions, she wasn't sure she had the guts to voice them.

Sakura tugged anxiously at the sleeve of her sheer black top as she waited for Uchiha-san to arrive. He had sent his driver to pick her up but he hadn't been waiting for her at the restaurant.

Upon arrival, Sakura was shown into a beautiful private booth where she was now waiting for her potential partner to arrive. She poked at the small appetizer sashimi with her chopsticks, hungry but having no desire to eat.

This always happened when she got nervous.

She jumped when the doors to the booth slid aside and Uchiha-san stepped inside. He gave her a smile so small she thought she had imagined it and seated himself in front of her after giving her an elegant and polite bow.

"My apologies for my lateness," he said without preamble. "In the interest of time I ordered for us both on my way here. I trust that is satisfactory…?" he murmured, straightening his jacket.

"Quite…" Sakura responded. "Apart from tuna, I enjoy most foods," she stated.

"Hn," was his response before he reached over the low table for the teapot. After pouring himself some chai tea, he looked up at Sakura, midnight black eyes staring into her grassy green ones.

"You mentioned some additions to my proposal…" he offered by way of starting the conversation.

Sakura blinked.

Apparently they were going to hop right in.

Well, then.

And she was fine, thank you. Also yes, it was beautiful outside today. No, there hadn't been much traffic on her way there.

She clenched her teeth slightly against the snarky response that threatened to make its way from her brain to the open air between them, but when he looked up at her with one of his straight stroke-of-an-artist eyebrows raised, the words stuck in her throat.

She coughed slightly around them.

"Ahem. Yes, the additions," she muttered. Strangely enough, her annoyance at his complete lack of personality gave her some courage.

He stared blandly back at her, seeming vaguely curious as if he has thought she would have simply accepted his proposal without complaint or comment.

"There are three main conditions I would need met," Sakura said, recounting the guidance Ino had offered earlier that day. She opened her mouth to continue, but with his solemn black eyes staring back at her, this time her words dissipated out of her brain and mouth like mist under the morning sun.

She reached down beside her for the letter-sized envelope she had carried with her, and mentally attempted to calm the slight tremble in her hands by counting to twelve in her head.

Somehow she always seemed to need more than ten seconds.

She slid the envelope across the table. This was just business. She shouldn't be this nervous. She should simply view this like an investment meeting. Or perhaps a life insurance consult. Why she was unable to, she really didn't know. She was the one in the upper hand right now, with the ability to simply say no.

' _People seem to think that contract marriages are born from desperation,'_ Ino had said when they had discussed it earlier in the week. ' _But in this case, that would make Uchiha-san the desperate one, don't you think? Besides, contract marriages have been around since the beginning of time with the purpose of providing some benefit or other to either party. Just make sure that this one benefits you. Since one of your conditions isn't love, make entirely certain that he is able to satisfy what your conditions actually are. And to do that, you need to be certain of what your conditions are. That way if he fails you, you can scream breach of contract.'_

And so, to be certain, she had written them down.

By hand, as he had, on a lightly ruled correspondence-sheet that she had specially designed and printed on a regular basis. As an afterthought, she had sprayed it with her perfume.

His fingers brushed against hers ever so slightly when he reached forward to accept it, and for some reason Sakura was stunned that his skin, even for that slight contact, was very warm. She pulled away and returned her hands to her lap.

He took up the envelope and was about to open it when the door slid open and a waitress entered with their food on a serving trolley.

Sakura heaved an inward sigh of relief.

She didn't know what she would do if he decided to read it in front of her.

She was quickly distracted by the gourmet sushi that was served. It was absolutely stunningly plated, and Sakura resisted the very strong urge to take pictures before eating.

The sushi platter he had ordered contained tuna. Sakura fully intended to just avoid it, but apparently Uchiha-san had other ideas. With the fingers of his left hand resting against the inside of the elbow of his right, a show of respect, he reached forward and removed the tuna sushi from polished wooden slab that it was served on.

"My apologies. I should have made enquiries in advance," he said. "Are you allergic to tuna?" he asked, and when she shook her head in the negative, he continued, "I see. Which types of sushi do you prefer?"

"Well shrimp and salmon are my favorites but-" Sakura started, her mouth dropping open when he selected one of his shrimp sushi and calmly deposited it on her wooden serving-slab.

"Please," he said, gesturing that she eat with a hand. "I hope you enjoy."

Sakura's first genuine smile in his presence, albeit a small surprised one, made its way to her lips. She picked up the expensive bamboo and stainless steel chopsticks, savoring their balance in her hands before she selected a piece to start.

"Itadakimasu," she said softly, applying wasabi, ginger and soy sauce before lifting the shrimp sushi he had given her to her mouth.

It was absolutely delicious. Her eyes squinted shut in pleasure.

"Are you allergic to any foods?" Uchiha-san asked before lifting his own sushi to his mouth. Sakura pressed her fingertips to her lips, finished chewing and then swallowed before responding.

"Ah, I eat most things well, but I have reactions when I eat too many oranges. They give me migraines. And you?" she asked, selecting another piece of sushi.

He blinked as he chewed, then responded with, "Strawberries."

Sakura merely nodded and hummed in response as her mouth was full.

They finished the rest of their sushi in silence, but Sakura wasn't really full. Still, she dabbed at her lips with her napkin and took a drink of the warmed sake that had been served as well.

"I ordered another round. Please, have some tea until it arrives," Uchiha-san said, as if sensing that she hadn't yet been satisfied.

* * *

Once again, she was very well put together.

Itachi appreciated her barely-there makeup, applied to accentuate rather than to conceal, and her simple, classy outfit. She was in a pantsuit again today, black this time. The blouse was a sheer, silky, slimming material that would have exposed her shoulders had the pantsuit jacket not been draped over them.

Every now and again Itachi would catch glimpses of her skin as she leaned forward to take bites of her meal.

He found himself somewhat curious.

As to what her bare shoulders would look like.

He was also curious as to what was concealed in the envelope she had presented.

She was still very quiet, which made Itachi realize how much he usually relied on other people to carry conversation. However, Itachi was seeing things he hadn't noticed the first time they had met for a meal.

Like how … _cute_ her expression was when she enjoyed something; her eyes squeezed shut, pushed up by her cheeks when she smiled.

He wanted the conversation to flow, but he found himself somewhat unsure of what to say.

He was unsure of what to say, and so he merely observed.

* * *

 **Review~~ (^_^)**

 **I'm riding the steam of my inspiration so you should see more soon!**


	8. 3: Sakura's Terms (1)

**Ugh thank you guys so much for the feedback. Hehe. Enjoy~**

 **Chapter 3: Sakura's Terms (1)**

* * *

They had managed a somewhat stilted conversation.

Itachi longed for the moment when they could discuss both their terms face to face. He was much more at ease when it came to speaking business.

This was not merely business, he was coming to realize.

This notion was even more firmly cemented when he got home and finally opened the envelope Sakura had given him.

As he usually did when he came home, he stared out at the sparkling lights of the city spread out before him, deeply breathed in the fresh air and let the day's tensions roll away. Home and work were the two places he felt the most comfortable but he always had to adjust his body and mind when first arriving at each place.

If he didn't do this he would end up thinking about work while at home or thinking about home while at work. Either way, this small exercise helped to create some balance in his life.

For some reason, the contract with Sakura was now identified as a home matter.

He poured himself a glass of wine first and took a seat on a low chair on his balcony before withdrawing the document she had given him.

He was rewarded with a light, feminine scent and the texture and weight of high-grade stationery.

Then the sight of neat, femininely constructed kanji.

A smile tilted the corner of his lips. Anyone anywhere could appreciate good penmanship. Now to see if he would appreciate what she was saying.

She had titled it ' _Amendment to Terms of Proposal of Marriage'._

Hn.

He lifted his glass to his lips and took a sip of wine as he read.

The first term was an addition.

In order to facilitate an improved relationship, breakfast together was mandatory when both parties were in the same location, and they were to meet for lunch and dinner at least twice per month.

He most certainly had not expected that.

But he could see how she thought it could be beneficial. In any area, business or otherwise, things went more smoothly the better the relationship.

However, this condition went completely against what he had initially thought her most attractive feature was. He had thought her schedule would make things easier by drastically reducing the amount of time they were together, and here she was arranging things with the very purpose of doing the opposite!

By this term, they would be contractually obligated to see each other every single morning when they were both in the same location. The only way he could escape this or reduce this would be to increase his travels or overnight work.

On one hand, it could improve their relationship if they were in any way compatible, but if they weren't it would be disastrous and uncomfortable. On the other hand, he could already feel the tightness in his head as his brain tried to rapidly restructure his thought process.

Their relationship had not really been a priority for him and he had rather been depending on the preconception that it would not be for her either. He had been hoping they would marry, she could move in, and then they would live their separate lives. After all, she hadn't wanted love, and at no point since had she made any declaration, verbally or written, to the contradict that statement. However now she was instilling a condition that would force them to spend way more time together than he currently thought necessary.

Clenching his teeth against what could potentially turn into a headache, Itachi took a fortifying sip of wine and continued to read.

The second term was also an addition, this time pertaining to appearances.

While Haruno-san was not looking for love, she was not prepared to face the social repercussions of a contract marriage. In order to combat this, she required them to go on six pre-marriage dates, three of which would be upon Itachi to prepare, and three of which she would take care of herself.

He was also required, should they decide to conduct the marriage, to make a public and traditional proposal.

Appearances.

She wanted people to think they were attracted to each other. In Itachi's perspective, the reason why people placed such weight on love when marrying completely eluded him. He'd seen people make horrendous and unsuited matches in the name of love that were later broken apart by clan politics, affairs and simply 'growing apart'.

In his estimation, a contracted marriage was much more secure.

Still, there was no denying the social importance of love, and so in order to protect both their reputations, he could see the point of this condition. She didn't say he had to publicly declare his love - that would be an outright lie and he was in no way prepared to do that - and so with vague wording and without any sign of hostility, he fully expected to be able to pull it off.

He just hoped people wouldn't be able to detect the white lie in his easily readable emotions. That proved to be an issue for him at times.

Her third term was an amendment to the Marital Obligations clause in the contract he had prepared. She was in no way open to either of them having extra-marital affairs. If intercourse was desired by either of them, she viewed it as their responsibility to work it out with the other.

The respect for her that was simmering somewhere inside him rose to a noticeable degree from that request alone. He had somewhat expected her to take what he had been giving based on her placid reaction to his proposal. The mere fact that she had responded in this way was a sign that she had more fibre to her than he had initially thought.

However, and he lowered the document as he thought about it, did this… did _all_ this mean that she was already growing attached to him? He did well to take care of his body, and obviously she did too, but was she already attracted to him?

Perhaps her silence on the occasions they had been together was less a sign of how boring or placid she was and more that she was shy?

He reread the condition.

She was forbidding him, by contract, to fulfil his baser desires with anyone else but her. If he couldn't be attracted to her enough to accept her advances when they came or to seek her out when he needed to, agreeing to this was agreeing to a celibate lifestyle. On the other hand, she was holding herself to the same restrictions.

But the mere fact that she was imposing this as a term meant that she must be attracted to him in some way, so maybe for her this was a benefit rather than a restriction!

He had to admit that while this clause could pose potential hell on his libido, it would make the preservation of their contract marriage that much easier; preventing extra-marital affairs would in turn prevent being discovered participating in an extra-marital affair, which was the main contract-breaking clause in his proposal.

Still, he wasn't sure how he felt about agreeing to sleep with one person, that he had no feelings for, for the rest of his life. It didn't make sense considering later divorce from this stage as it would be very disadvantageous to her. His family would prepare an ironclad prenup that would cause major damage should they separate.

He didn't dislike her enough for that to be an option.

He would ponder that later, and so for now he would continue reading.

Finally, the final terms requested that they both fill out and present the appended form in its entirety. Itachi's brows pulled together and he turned the page to investigate.

It was a questionnaire.

Quite a long one, actually, with one hundred questions.

They were all short answer questions, but would still yield quite a bit of information.

Interesting.

He had not expected this at all.

While Haruno-san might not be an engaging conversationalist, at this junction he could no longer claim her to be boring!

* * *

Sakura lifted a sliver of julienned carrot to her lips with her chopsticks and took a bite. She was eating dinner with both her parents tonight, but the mood was a bit tense.

This usually happened when her parents argued about her.

She wondered what it was regarding this time.

"Sakura," her father started. The carrot lodged in her throat.

"Hai, Otou-san," she managed, resting down the chopsticks. Her father continued speaking without lifting his head to look back at her.

"Come to play golf tomorrow evening. Minister Tenzou asked for you," he said, taking a sip of his sake before taking another bite of shredded beef.

Sakura was not good at golf. She was even less good at dealing with Minister Tenzou. He fancied her to be perfect for his son, whom Sakura had not laid eyes on even once before, and he continuously treated her like a daughter in law. But not in a good way.

He would send her on errands, try to control everything about her, down to how much and what she ate, what she wore, and almost any basic decision she made his presence.

She hated it, but in order to ensure that her parents weren't made uncomfortable or ashamed of her, she tried to bear it with as much grace as she could muster.

"Ah… Otou-san… I had another engagement already planned," she lied.

"Cancel it," her father said without even looking her way. "You can see your friends any other time."

"Ah…" Sakura gaped, taking up her chopsticks again but not doing anything with them. She nibbled at her lower lip anxiously.

"Whoever did you have plans with, Sakura, that you look so anxious?" her mother queried. Her mother was more careful than normal when it came to Sakura's social calendar. Because the Sarutobi were not on clan level due to their smaller size - just around four families - her mother was very cognizant of the fact that 'social mistakes' on Sakura's part would be a bit difficult to deal with.

Especially when the majority of their business came from clans and their various related politics.

Association with anyone below the grade was forbidden.

There was one person that neither of her parents would be able to take issue with. And so Sakura went with that.

"Ah… Uchiha Itachi-san asked me out to dinner…" she lied, turning her eyes to her food and lifting some rice to her mouth. She took a dainty bite in the midst of her parents' shocked silence.

"Why would…?" her mother started.

"Is he unaware of the fact that you no longer work in the family business?" her father growled. It was no secret that he detested Ino for convincing Sakura to turn away from a promising career in law to do her own thing. He was even more resentful of the fact that Sakura was doing so well he couldn't quite force her back into the business without incurring the wrath of her fans.

Considering the sales of her last book, she had millions of them.

"He… he seems to be _interested_ in me…" Sakura replied, still refusing to look up lest they sense her lie. When she had been dating Sasuke, her father had taken issue with the fact that he was a second son.

Now that she had supposedly caught the interest of an heir, she was interested to see what his response would be.

Her father was a third line heir. Honestly, none of the family had really expected him to inherit, but when Grandfather Hiruzen and Uncle Asuma had both died in an unfortunate car accident, her father had been pushed into the role of the heir.

Truthfully, his unforeseen heirdom aside, her father had worked incredibly hard to be recognized as worthy. He was dependable, intelligent, clever and did well with the clan politics of his clients. His appointment had been met with no complaint or restrictions. Even though Grandfather Hiruzen and Uncle Asuma had not really wanted the business to go in the direction her father had taken it, the Sarutobi legal firm was making more money than the other family members thought possible, and more than could be made if he had stuck with family law mainly.

No, Sarutobi Akira did real estate law, mergers and acquisitions, contract law, and divorce law on the main.

His main clients?

None other than the clans; the ones who went through more real estate purchases and transferrings, mergers, contracts and divorces than any other client groups.

The amount of money a clan would pay for a perfectly tailored and ironclad prenuptial agreement was insane. What was even more insane was how much they stood to lose if there was a divorce and they _didn't_ have a prenup. It was a method of controlling anyone that joined the clan.

Her father was very enamored with the concept of clans.

And so Sakura potentially landing an heir could possibly make him forgive her, finally, from leaving Sarutobi Legal.

"Very well," her father said gruffly, turning his attention back to his meal. "Make the most of it."

Sakura was glad that she wasn't interested in love.

So then why did his response make her feel so suffocated?

It was then that Sakura identified the real reason why she was even considering Uchiha Itachi's proposal.

Escape.

* * *

 **Hehehe! As usual, I hope you enjoyed this~! Plz review. I really don't want to make any promises because my life is so unpredictable, but if you had to choose 2 days per week to get scheduled updates for this story, which days would they be?**

 **I will try to stick with the most popular days.**

 **At the moment I have written a few chapters ahead of what I have posted, and I hope scheduling will allow me to maintain that.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


	9. 3: Sakura's Terms (2)

**This is my gift to you for the closing out of 2017! Thank you guys so much for sticking with me for 5 glorious years, and here is to the future of at least 5 more! You guys have been absolutely amazing!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Sakura's Terms (2)**

* * *

He had to admit to being a bit intrigued.

Never in his wildest speculations would he have expected to receive a friendship questionnaire. He hadn't even known exactly what it was until he'd shown it to Yamato.

The questions ranged from topics as simple as his middle name to as deep as the moment he felt the most shame.

He was still looking it over with something akin to dread mixed with amazement when his phone vibrated.

Haruno Sakura.

He stared at the Caller ID for a few seconds before answering.

"Have you eaten?" she asked after returning his greeting. Itachi could scarcely remember the last time someone had asked him that. His surprise at her question made him falter.

"I have not," he responded. Surely she was not about to-

"Dinner is on me," she said. "Meet me at the Tenshou Park Restaurant at eight."

And then she hung up.

Rude.

But why was a bewildered smile on his face?

He couldn't remember the last time someone had hung up on him either.

Itachi had another appointment at eight. Shisui was back in Konoha and wanted to grab drinks with him. Itachi rung her back.

"I cannot meet with you tonight. I have already agreed to meet my cousin," he said without preamble. Why he was offering a reason, he did not know.

"That's perfectly fine. Bring him along," Haruno-san responded.

And then she hung up again.

Itachi stared at his phone in disbelief.

He was under no obligation to meet her. He really didn't have to. He could have needed to talk about important business with Shisui. Supposing he was unprepared for them to meet yet?

He called Shisui.

"'Tachi-chan," his cousin answerer jovially. "I was just about to call. Can we put off drinks until tomorrow? Something… uh, something _came up._ "

Something.

A woman, from the way Shisui made no attempt to even slightly conceal his innuendo.

Shisui was as wild as Itachi was conservative. According to Shisui, he was wild _because_ Itachi was conservative.

"I have to ensure that when we meet there is something interesting to talk about, 'Tachi-chan. No one wants a casual drink over M&A talks. I'm not about that life," Shisui had said once when Itachi confronted him about some party or other that had caused a scandal.

But Itachi had no intention of getting wilder.

So Shisui also threw out any intentions of becoming more conservative.

"I haven't seen you in two months," Itachi objected, feeling the twinge of disappointment. Shisui was like fresh air to him. He'd felt as if he had been drowning in city smog for too long at this point.

"'Tachi-chan… you _miss me?"_ Shisui cooed. "I miss you too but… what's a man to do? I can't leave until what came up… you know… goes _down._ "

"I have… news," Itachi baited. "But I suppose if you don't want to hear about her…"

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

" _Her?"_ his cousin repeated. "Aarrggghhh you can't do this to me!" Itachi could sense Shisui's inner debate. Truth be told, he really wanted Shisui's opinion on what he was doing.

And his help.

Unlike his cousin, Itachi had never quite mastered the social aspect of life. In the business world he was untouchable, but remove the paperwork and corporate decisions and he was a fish out of water, gasping helplessly behind the mask he struggled to keep mounted.

Shisui always saw through him, a testament to how transparent Itachi was. Thankfully, most of his associates were polite enough not to comment on his most obvious expressions. He could keep a poker face when it came to business, but when he had to be in a social setting he felt as if he was stripped bare and everyone was eyeing him under a magnifying glass.

For this precise reason he had hated clan gatherings when he was young.

The little genius, they had called him.

He couldn't seem to sneeze without attracting stares, praise and criticism alike.

At first, Shisui had been the only one that hadn't been interested in him at all. He had almost avoided Itachi completely, until one day when he was running off to get himself involved in some mischief or other, he'd offered Itachi an almost disdainful "Come if you want to."

Itachi had staunchly denied wanting to, but he had watched Shisui's back until he'd disappeared through a hole in the shrubbery lining the family mansion.

And he had played by himself in the vicinity of that hole, watching it closely until Shisui had come back through it, face flushed and eyes glistening.

He had never asked what Shisui had done, and Shisui had never told him.

Shisui had never seemed to notice how closely Itachi watched him after that, with ill-veiled interest, and that made Itachi comfortable. He would much rather spend time with someone that couldn't read his every thought.

The next time Shisui had offered to let him tag along, Itachi had silently followed him. And thus, he went to his first teenage party.

He had almost wet himself from nervousness, and he had clung to the wall and watched everyone having a good time while trying his best not to really make eye contact or say anything.

For some strange reason, a few of the girls had found him attractive enough anyway, and he'd received his first actual kiss, much to Shisui's delight.

Itachi had never understood what he did right, but he had chalked it up to a marvellous misunderstanding.

In his later years, he grew more confident socially, but he found he preferred listening to others than actually speaking. The women that he found himself attracted to were rather vocal, but eventually they wanted more participation than he was able to give them.

Even with Shisui's coaching and urging, Itachi had been unable to pass a certain limit when outside of a business setting. Even there he kept things close to the minimum.

"-'Tachi? Are you still there?" Shisui was asking. "What the hell," his cousin murmured. "Did you fall asleep or something?"

"I'm here," Itachi returned.

"You spaced out again. Kid, you have to stop doing that," Shisui chided.

"Don't call me kid," Itachi protested, feeling childish for even responding. Shisui only laughed in response.

"Well 'Tachi-chan, I was saying that I will try to come over but don't wait for me. I will let you know if I can still make it when I'm done here."

Itachi repressed a disappointed sigh.

This wasn't the first time Shisui cancelled on him to be with a woman. It always left Itachi with a trifold bitter feeling.

One, he wished he was more important to Shisui than satisfying his sexual desires.

Two, he would and usually did drop whatever he was doing when Shisui wanted to meet him.

Three, it made it all the more obvious that Shisui had way more going on in his life in a day than Itachi would probably have in a year.

"Hn," he responded. Maybe meeting Haruno-san would distract him from the dark feeling that settled low in his chest.

"You don't have to sound so salty," Shisui chuckled. "I will try to be quick."

He might as well have told Itachi for certain that he wasn't coming. Recently, 'quick' for Shisui meant the whole night. His cousin had recently admitted that he wasn't a 'few minutes kinda guy'. Despite his cousin's intentions, he always ended up…

Itachi turned his mind to other things, but he couldn't help wondering what it would feel like to connect with someone in such a way that if Shisui called, even after thinking about it, he would put off his best friend.

Hn.

He would just go and meet Haruno-san.

The Tenzou Park Restaurant was a fairly casual place, so Itachi had a shower and put on black joggers, a black and white slim-fit designer hoodie and his favorite white-soled black sneakers.

Maybe it was because Shisui had so casually put off the get-together he had been anticipating, but Itachi found himself determined to be verbal tonight.

Kami help him.

* * *

 **Thanks in advance for the reviews, my lovelies!**

 **Little known fact: January 1 will not only be the start of the new year, but also my birthday~! So even though I am hoping to usher in the new year with part 3 of this chapter, pardon me if I don't get to, due to various celebrations ^_^!**


	10. 3: Sakura's Terms (3)

**Thank you guys for the bday wishes and lovely reviews! Hope the first day of your year is going well! As promised, here is the next chappie!**

 **So this chapter doesn't really have anything to do with Sakura's terms, but it occurred before the final part of the chapter… in any case, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Sakura's Terms (3)**

* * *

Quite frankly, Sakura was fully prepared to be stood up.

She was so prepared, in fact, that when Uchiha-san strolled in, looking… well… like a human, no, a model… no… _perfect,_ she coughed so hard she almost spit out her drink. She barely managed to keep the fluid in by clamping her lips shut and pressing her palm to her mouth.

He looked around, black eyes scanning the establishment for her and she waved to catch his attention.

As he walked over to her, Sakura felt as if she was on the downward cycle of a never ending circus ride. She was so internally confused by his appearance it was as if her brain couldn't reconcile what she was seeing with her perception of reality.

First of all, he hadn't at all expected him to show up.

Second of all, if he had shown up, she had _fully_ expected him to be in a business suit, even though the Tenzou Park Restaurant was a fairly casual place.

Thirdly, _if_ he had even shown up in a suit, she had expected him to be accompanied by an equally suited cousin.

She had _never_ expected to be wrong on all three counts. He _had_ shown up, _casually_ dressed, and more importantly, _alone._

He was sitting in front of her before she had even fully processed that he was even there. She didn't know what the hell to feel. Was she happy that he had shown up? Should she be nervous? Excited?

No.

She was most certainly confused.

"Hi," she croaked after swallowing her drink, which had seemingly turned solid and the effort it took to get it down her throat made her eyes water. His eyebrows pulled together ever so slightly before he responded.

"Hn."

"I didn't expect you to come," Sakura said, sounding as mystified as she felt.

"I didn't really expect myself to come," he said, looking around the establishment with an expression of… wait… she was unable to decipher what was going through his mind.

She highly doubted that this was a venue he would frequent. Maybe he was looking around for his cousin…?

"Ah… Is your cousin on their way?" she asked, looking around as well.

"He was… indisposed," Uchiha-san said, turning to face her.

' _Ah, so this is what a museum exhibit feels like,'_ Sakura groaned inwardly. Maybe this was not the greatest ideas.

"Ah…" Sakura trailed. She blinked, still a bit disconcerted, and then it hit her that she was supposed to buy him dinner. "You said you hadn't eaten. Is pizza okay? The have the most delicious prosciutto pizza here," Sakura gushed, her eyes brightening just thinking about it. Uchiha-san stared back at her a bit blankly.

"I have never tried it," he said slowly after a moment. Sakura glanced up at him as she scrolled through the electronic menu affixed to the table.

"The prosciutto pizza?" she asked, her fingers hovering over the device.

"Pizza," he clarified.

Sakura blinked.

"You've never tried pizza?" she gasped, caught somewhere between shock, disbelief and the strange delight of experiencing the exciting position of being on the verge of exposing someone to something amazing for the first time.

He didn't respond, but it was clear that she was right. Sakura didn't want to gush in disbelief too much as that might make him uncomfortable, but mentally she was wiggling her fingers in joy.

If, just _if_ they could connect over one thing and that one thing be food, she would be able to survive.

"Okay… so this goes great with white wine," she went on. "Of course it's important to note that there is pizza, and then there is _pizza."_ At his slightly confused look, Sakura giggled and continued.

"There is trash pizza, it's delicious, but it's trash. Think thick soft bread topped with copious amounts of cheese and sauce and meat. Delicious and goes amazingly with beer or soda… and then you have _pizza. Gourmet pizza._ I'm talking about everything from thin gourmet bread to specialty cheese and top quality meat and toppings, and served, of course, with the most _exquisite_ wines."

She drew in a deep, calming breath.

He was looking at her with another unreadable expression, but nothing released Sakura's endorphins like talking about food, so right now she really didn't care.

* * *

She was like a different person.

He was dumbstruck.

She wasn't in black or white today. Instead, she was wearing a fuzzy midnight blue angora sweater with a silky, fitted high-waisted skirt in the same colour. It brought out the soft pink of her hair and made her already startling green eyes even more vivid.

He had come prepared to say something, to be vocal, but he hadn't really had the chance. After confessing that this would be his first time eating pizza, Haruno-san had evolved right before his eyes.

It was safe to say, at this point, that she loved food.

Her eyes were glistening as she spoke, her lips spread in an ever-present smile and her hands gesturing animatedly. She had gone ahead and ordered two types of pizza and a bottle of wine, and was currently chattering happily about the most delicious pizza she had ever tasted.

"What else haven't you tried?" she asked enthusiastically. "What about okonomiyaki?"

Itachi had tried the savoury pancake once before, but just to see her response he shook his head to the negative. Her entire face brightened.

"The next time we go out for dinner, I will take you for okonomiyaki. NNK Northside has the absolute _best_ okonomiyaki that will ever grace your mouth," Sakura sighed. She looked up with delight when the server came with two round pans of thin-crusted pizza.

"Enjoy," the attractive young woman said. "If you need anything just tap the triangular button on your device." She gave a quick bow and a wide smile and then moved on.

The pizza was very attractive and smelled positively delicious. Itachi picked up his knife, but Haruno-san's delicate hand placed on top of his prevented him from doing anything with it. Itachi looked down at her slim fingers, half hidden by the long fuzzy sleeve of her sweater.

She shook her head, a mysterious smile on her lips.

"The only cutlery that should be used when eating pizza is something to portion it. As that's already been done, we can move on to the best part," she said, and wiggled her fingers in the air.

Itachi raised a questioning brow.

"Yes," she said with a dazzling smile. "It's finger food," she elaborated with what Itachi inwardly labelled as a charmingly inappropriate amount of delight.

"Please," Itachi murmured, indicating that she should go first.

"Watch and learn," she said gleefully, shaking back the overlong sweater sleeves that hid almost half of her fingers. With her sweater sleeves now out of the way of the sauce or grease on the pizza, she lifted a slice, releasing a soft squeal of pleasure when the cheese stretched.

With a simple, quick move of her fingers, she created a curve shape with the slice of pizza and took a bite of the longer end of the triangle.

Once again, her eyes squeezed shut and a little shiver moved through her.

She opened one eye as she chewed. She pushed the bite of pizza to one corner of her mouth and covered her lips with the tips of her fingers as she moaned, "Kami, it's soo good!"

Itachi had the vague mental image of a strangely adorable pink and blue kitten.

It was unrealistically cute.

He took a slice, knowing that even if it was delicious, it wouldn't beat the enjoyment of watching _her_ enjoy it.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed! I love you guys~~**


	11. 3: Sakura's Terms (4)

**Hehe you guys are awesome. Thanks so much for the reviews! And here is the final part of Chapter 3.**

 **Also, some reviewers have mentioned Sasuke, and relating it to Confession 1. I should have explained better - This story isn't 100% in The Confession universe, in that it is taking a slightly more mature approach than The Confession did, so some of the story facts vary slightly. In The Confession 1 Sasuke didn't really date Sakura. In Confession 2, however, the details of Sasuke and Hinata's relationship transfers from Confession1.**

 **I don't know if this counts as a spoiler, but at this point I have no intention with interfering with Sasuke and Hinata's relationship by bringing even the suggestion of adultery.**

 **Other reviewers have mentioned that the chapters are really short. I agree, however due to my VERY unstable schedule, this is the safest length I can deliver with any hope of consistency. If I do get an influx of reviews asking for longer chapters despite the lengthened delivery time, then I will take it under advisement. Please do let me know what you think though.**

 **Outside of that I am REALLY happy that you guys are enjoying this so far!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Sakura's Terms (4)**

* * *

"I did not expect a friendship questionnaire," Itachi said after he drank the last of his wine. He held the wine glass loosely by the stem before placing it on the short wooden block beside him that acted as a table.

"Well, I thought it was senseless to marry someone without knowing anything about them beforehand. I suppose it could be accompanied with a confidentiality agreement, because some of the questions dug pretty deeply," Sakura-san replied. He looked up at her when she spoke, tapping the base of the glass absently with his pointer finger.

Somehow, after the pizza, he couldn't seem to continue thinking of her as Haruno-san. They had since moved to the restaurant's lounge area, called The Grotto, where they continued to enjoy their wine.

The pizza had been surprisingly delicious and was definitely something Itachi would try again. He wasn't really keen on trying the 'trash pizza' as Sakura-san called it, but based on her animated descriptions of the joys of indulging, he would probably give it a try.

"To be frank, I did not expect any of your terms," Itachi continued.

"What did you think of them?" Sakura-san asked, tracing the rim of her glass with her index finger. For some completely unknown reason, speaking to her was not as excruciatingly difficult as he had assumed. She was easier to respond to than most people he spoke to.

"They were… unexpected. I am beginning to understand your terms on breakfast," he said. Sakura-san smiled and nodded.

"I don't think it is necessary for the marriage to be cold, even if we are not in love. My ultimate goal is a sort of… friendship, I suppose. And a mutual dependability. I need to trust and be trusted, otherwise I could just get married to anyone once their contract said the right things…"she said, leaning back in the plush sofa and curling her bare feet under her. She had taken off her strappy high-heeled sandals about fifteen minutes earlier.

That was almost completely different to the intention Itachi had started with. He just needed to get his clan elders off his back, and be eligible for his father to pass on his inheritance officially at the next shareholders meeting.

"I did not have such aspirations," Itachi admitted. "But I agree that not just anyone would do. I don't have the time or inclinations for a full courtship, but choosing the right person is important to me." Sakura nodded as he spoke, as if she had already suspected that.

"I'm not from a clan, but I have had to do with quite a few," she said. "The pressure must be intense. Even when I was dating-"

She stopped there, and the vibrance that had been present in her face for the entire night thus far faded completely. Her expression reminded him of how she had looked on the first night he had really _seen_ her. Inuzuka Kiba's wedding.

Ah.

Had they dated?

It must have been painful to be invited to his wedding while being in love with him. Itachi didn't think he was close enough to her to ask about that, even though he was curious. He wanted to change the subject, but now that her vibrancy had vanished, he wasn't sure what to do to bring it back.

The only thing he knew that excited her was what had made her so happy earlier. Food. But thinking of randomly talking about that gave him the mental image of tossing a bone at a dog.

Still.

He had to try something.

"Should we continue this conversation over ice-cream?" he asked. Maybe changing the venue would give her some time to gather her thoughts. That sometimes worked for him.

* * *

The night had been going fine. Great. Splendidly in fact. She had actually started having a bit of fun.

They had even managed a fluid enough conversation.

Until.

She had almost mentioned Sasuke's name.

Even though his name had never made it into the open air, it had made it to her brain. And the streak of pain that was attached to those three syllables cut right into her heart.

Some love she had.

The man she wanted was happily married with kids and here she was having barely-there laughs with his not-so-boring-but-still-not-him older brother. It was like eating the convenience store version of ramen after having it at a traditional restaurant.

Somewhat enjoyable but so far from the real thing that it was almost funny.

Uchiha-san rose and gave the hem of his black hoodie a firm tug. Sakura put back on her shoes, feeling her thoughts start to tug at her concentration. She didn't want to talk about the contract anymore tonight. As a matter of fact, she wanted to go home, have another drink and try to forget that she even existed. She felt pathetic.

Her sense of decency told her she couldn't just switch and go home when she was the one that had invited Uchiha-san out so she gave herself a mental kick in the butt and told herself to get her head together.

What would Sasuke say if he could see her now? She knew he had a major case of hero worship when it came to his older brother, so logically there must be a reason, but what was a girl to do? As much as she said she wasn't interested in love it was more that she didn't want any love if it wasn't Sasuke's.

"What am I doing?" she moaned under her breath, desperately fighting the burn in her eyes.

It was funny how much feelings and memories could be attached to a single name. Just the thought of him was enough to make her feel like a burning spear was shoved through her chest. It was worse right now because things weren't going the way she wanted.

Her current situation wasn't ideal.

Not to beat a dead horse, but her ideal situation was an alternate reality in which her love wasn't unrequited.

"Haruno-san?" The smooth as silk voice of Sasuke's older brother cut through her thoughts. He was standing before her, his profile lit by the warm lightning just outside The Grotto. The light formed a golden outline of his slim physique. His expression didn't seem to have changed, but somehow Sakura sensed his concern. It occurred to Sakura at that moment that he was… beautiful.

"I'm alright," she lied, forcing a smile.

"You don't need to be," he said after pausing for a few seconds. The words were almost comforting, but then…

Shit.

He knew.

There was no way he would just _say_ that if he didn't _know_.

Sakura gaped up at him and he just stood there silently.

"Why…?" Sakura started, not even sure what she was asking. There were so many questions she had right now that began with that word.

Why would he say something like that?

Why was her life like this?

Why was it impossible for what she wanted to happen?

Why was she even here?

Why was she resorting to this?

Those were just a few.

But in the end, his answer was to a completely different question. A question she had asked herself when he had first proposed marriage.

"I was given many options by my clan. I rejected them all. I may not be the one you want, but you are the only person _I_ chose."

What.

The.

Hell.

How was she supposed to respond to that?!

Also why did it make her feel good?

He had _chosen_ her?

Well, damn.

She had not seen that coming.

The tears that had been on the verge of spilling over dried up in shock.

"You…" Sakura breathed, blinking up at him.

"I chose you." He said the words again, in that soft, firm way of his. He may as well have been saying something as simple as 'Water is clear' for all the emotion he put into it, but somehow the words felt weighted.

Important.

It was confusing how he could do that.

Or maybe it was a mere side effect of how perpetually confused she felt these days… ever since Kiba's wedding.

"But…" she uttered, feeling like she should be saying something, but her thoughts had learned from Houdini and had escaped her brain.

"And as it relates to your terms..." he said, sliding his other hand into his pocket, blinking slowly as he stared down at her with shadowed onyx eyes.

"My terms…?" Sakura parroted, wondering if it was possible for her to climb out of stupidity; she felt so dense and slow and stupid, as if he was talking to her in Iwanian.

The corner of his lips tilted ever so slightly.

"I accept."

Then he looked at her for three silent seconds before he turned and walked out of The Grotto.

Well.

Damn.

* * *

 **Everyone wants to be someone's first choice ey. Review~~**

 **See you guys again soon!**


	12. 4: Well, Damn (1)

**Here we go!**

 **Thank you guys so so much for the feedback! As advised I will simply cut off chapters where they feel natural. For those of you who definitely want longer chapters, every now and again I may pop a juicy long one in, but for now… I kinda have to do them like this.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Well, Damn (1)**

* * *

She followed behind him, not unlike a puppy. Itachi smiled inwardly. As he had known, distracting her was the way to go. Now that he had seen her smiling face, he couldn't countenance a sad expression. She had looked positively depressed a moment ago.

Now she was following him, struggling to keep up with his fast pace.

"Wait…" she stammered, a few paces behind him as he strode outside. Itachi smirked inwardly and maintained his pace.

"Wait, dammit," she called.

Itachi stopped and turned.

She proceeded to run directly into his chest.

He reached out to catch her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders and upper back.

She looked up at him.

Kami, her eyes were green.

Fringed by cotton-candy pink eyelashes, it was safe to say that this was the first time Itachi had ever seen anything so spectacular. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember ever seeing anyone else with that particular combination prior.

She had freckles too, a light smattering across the tops of her cheeks, somewhat concealed by her makeup. Itachi found himself focusing on them, and absently wondering what she would look like fresh faced.

She blinked rapidly, her eyelashes fluttering.

"Wait…"she repeated somewhat absently.

Well, damn.

He hadn't quite expected this to happen.

"Hn?" He raised a brow, knowing that if he said or did more she would _know._ Everyone would know. That was his greatest disadvantage.

"... You have accepted the terms?" she asked, looking bewildered. He set her firmly on her feet and took a step back.

"Your conditions were… reasonable," he replied. She blinked and pulled in a shuddering breath.

"We don't need to talk about it further or…?" she asked, as if disbelieving his sincerity. Itachi slid one hand into the pocket of his hoodie.

"We can proceed to the next stage of negotiations," Itachi said. "I believe we both have forms to submit to each other. And I believe you requested some outings," he clarified. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then she closed it and just stared up at him.

"But we haven't discussed…" she began.

Itachi turned and continued walking.

"Where are you going?" she asked, following him again.

"To discuss," he said, glancing at her over his shoulder. "Will you be driving with me?"

* * *

Of all the…

She had absolutely no clue how his brain worked.

None.

She tried and she was honestly drawing a blank. If he had been predictable like she had originally assumed, then his almost perpetually straight face would be boring but… he was throwing her for a loop. She had seen a few expressions on his face, but none of them were clear enough to give any definite insight into the workings of his mind.

He didn't do or say the things she expected him to, based on their encounter when he had first proposed a union. She thought he would have some sort of cold reaction to her terms but he had gamely accepted them and now she had no clue what to do.

She looked up to realize that he was standing patiently by the passenger side of his car, staring at her with what she was _sure_ was amusement. However she had nothing with which to prove that notion.

"I'm not driving with you," she said, her brain still scrambling. One of his straight eyebrows raised in question. "That is, we both had quite a bit to drink… wait is that it?"

It fit.

Maybe, he was a lightweight.

She held up three fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" she asked, her brows furrowing.

What she could have _sworn_ was a chuckle left his lips. However his expression was a straight as usual.

"Three," he responded. He shut the car door and walked back over to her. "Well then, we can walk," he started, then looked down at her heeled feet. "Or perhaps not."

Sakura looked down at her feet as well.

Ah.

"I can walk," she chuckled. She was wearing heels since she was twelve. If she couldn't handle a short walk in the park she wouldn't be herself.

"Very well," he accepted, then offered her his elbow. She could have refused, but she took it. She found herself wondering why she was still surprised at his body warmth. Apparently somewhere along the line she had convinced herself he was a machine in truth but now she was finding that there was mystery behind his midnight eyes.

That made the concept of a union between them both interesting and terrifying. What was she getting herself into?

The night was cool, a gentle wind stirring the trees and creating the soft rustling sound that Sakura had come to associate with fall. It was colder than she had expected it to be, and she held in an involuntary shiver.

Uchiha-san looked down at her questioningly, but she shook her head, wordlessly telling him she was fine. As they walked in silence, Sakura found herself mentally tallying the pros.

He was good looking, young and wealthy. He was obviously not a mean person, based on the small interactions she had with him and the contract he had drawn up. He dressed well and was polite. Partnering with him could be sufficient enough excuse for her parents to allow her to move out and give her a bit of the independence she had always wanted. It would also shield her from the pitying eyes of her peers, who were mostly married or dating, and who had been aware of her consistent heartbreaks.

The cons.

He was Sasuke's brother. She still didn't even know if Sasuke was aware of this. Regardless, she would be seeing a _lot_ more of Sasuke in a family setting than before. That would be hell. Also, Sasuke would have questions. He knew his brother best, and he knew Sakura, and he would have questions.

She would most certainly crack under the pressure if he turned suspicious eyes on her. Sasuke would not be easy to fool.

Also there would be the ridicule and the speculation.

She couldn't get one so she took the other.

What did she have on Uchiha Itachi that he would take his little brother's sloppy seconds?

She could already predict those.

And the curious whispers.

"Why did you choose me anyway, knowing what you do?" Sakura asked, not able to put the fact that she wasn't good enough for Sasuke into audible words.

He looked down at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Our causes aligned. You have what I need and perhaps I could give you what you need. Although my understanding of what that is seems to have altered," he said.

So was it a case of one man's trash…?

"No, but why _me?_ " Sakura stressed.

He took a moment before he responded.

"Instinct. Separate from facts, my _instinct_ tells me that you are match for me. Normally, I would consider the option in more extensive detail to verify whether or not the facts balance with my instinct, but time is of the essence for me," he explained.

Based on what Sasuke had told her, his brother _never_ used more words than was absolutely necessary, but unless they had different perceptions of what _necessary_ meant, that wasn't Sakura's experience.

His instinct told him she was a match for him.

"But what about the facts?" Sakura pressed. "How would you go about gathering those?"

Again, he took a few moments before responding.

"There is what can be discovered on the public domain about a person of your standing. As I would do with any potential partner, there are certain investigations and enquiries that would have to be made… to you and… _other parties._ "

A thought came to her and was out of her mouth before she could stop it.

"What did your brother have to say about me?" she asked. He smiled.

"I believe 'almost your exact opposite, brother' were his words," he responded. They stopped walking as they approached a bench, and he gestured for them both to sit.

"Is that all?" Sakura asked, on the verge of being offended by how little Sasuke supposedly said about her.

"He said you would probably want romance, but he was wrong about that. He also said you were passionate… and fiery."

Passionate and fiery.

Was she supposed to take it then that Hinata was mellow and cool? Was _that_ what he really wanted? If he wanted mellow she could give him mellow. Heck, she could be positively melon-like in her mellowness. If that was what he wanted. It made sense because Hinata was… mellow. Ans Sakura didn't mean that in a good way.

It occurred to her, and the thought brought dangerous levels of internal pain, that knowing this even now was too late.

So he thought she was passionate and fiery. Telling that to the older brother that possibly interested in her was tantamount to giving his blessing in Sakura's estimation. She'd never hated two words so much in her life.

"You are correct. I don't want romance. I've had enough of that," Sakura said, feeling the vague sense of anxiety that circled her whenever she wasn't telling the truth.

Romance only served to increase her expectations.

Expectations only served to attract inevitable disappointment.

Disappointment lingered and ate away at her soul.

So she would cut it off from the root.

No romance.

* * *

At some point, Itachi was aware that he had lost Sakura-san to her thoughts. She must have loved Inuzuka Kiba deeply. Of course, since they were of similar social stature, they were eligible and therefore there would have been less obstruction to a match. However it must have been painful when Kiba had apparently forsaken social conventions and had set his sights on someone far lower down the ladder.

Unlike Itachi, Inuzuka's attempt had been met with success, no matter how momentary it might or might not prove to be. His own attempt had been met with open rebuke, threats of disinheritance, and emotional attacks and pressure from his family and close society. It had been hard enough on him, but for _her…_

The mere thought of the tears in her eyes, the ragged sound of her muffled sobs when she closed herself in the bathroom to hide her tears from him, the way she subconsciously distanced herself from him and the blame lurking in her eyes even when she told him she was okay still made him feel to vomit.

And vomit he had when he'd finally gathered the strength to let her go. The relief in her eyes had turned his stomach. The movies lied. The women who were strong enough to successfully bridge the gap of social class and deal with clans as powerful as his own were few and far between.

Eventually he had simply given up. When he had figured out that he wasn't worth her pain, he had simply stopped. It hurt more the more he liked her. Being with her made them both suffer and losing her had killed a part of him.

His chest felt tight and stifling.

Itachi blamed Sakura-san's descent into melancholy for the less than pleasant thoughts that stirred up long-buried bitterness.

He needed to move his mind to other thoughts.

Anything else, really.

Sasuke was as safe a topic as any.

He was one of her best friends after all, and Itachi's brother. He was arguably the only thing they had in common.

"When did you meet my brother?"

Sakura-san burst into tears.

Well.

Damn.

* * *

 **Iffy iffy yeah yeah… (Please tell me someone gets this reference. I will do a special scene/chapter for whoever gets it right)**

 **Yeah things are not looking so great for our poor mains** **ㅠ** **_** **ㅠ…**

 **Review~**


	13. 4: Well, Damn (2)

**Happy Weekend my beautiful readers and reviewers! As suggested, here is your bonus for completing your weeks safely~!**

 **You guys have been absolutely amazing so far! I am SUPER pleased that you are enjoying~~! A lovely and beautiful guest got the iffy iffy reference correct, down to the artist, so please be sure to let me know in the comments what the special scene you want is!**

 **Without further ado, part two!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Well, Damn (2)**

* * *

Her heart literally stopped.

Then she was bawling before she even knew it.

Of all the things Uchiha-san could have possibly chosen to say at that moment, he said the one thing that would completely ruin her.

She was so tired of being like this. So very tired. She'd been so sure that she'd been getting over Sasuke. So sure that she'd been improving, but having to face him at Kiba's wedding had destroyed any illusions of progress that she had been holding on to. And now, the mere mention of his name was enough to reduce her to tears and distress.

She needed to stop this.

She needed to stop crying. The fact that the cause for her tears was oblivious to her pain made her feel so pathetic. Sasuke might have had an inkling of the depth of her feelings when they were together, but Sakura didn't think he knew the half. She had been unprepared to show it to him lest it only serve to scare him off.

His words at the wedding came back to haunt her.

" _If I didn't know any better I would think you still liked me."_

Liked.

Separate and apart from the fact that he apparently thought he 'knew better', he thought she had ' _liked_ ' him.

She didn't _like_ him then and she didn't _like_ him now. She never had.

She had first been curious about him. Then attracted to him. Then she'd _loved_ him. Adored him. Treasured him. She would have done anything for him, and he thought she _liked_ him.

It occurred to her then that, as usual, Ino was right.

Sasuke had never _seen_ her.

He thought she was passionate and fiery, but if he thought what she had shown him was passion, then he didn't even know the half. And if mellow Hinata was what he loved, then Sakura had truly never stood a chance.

The thought was sobering, and she struggled to pull herself back together. And in doing so she realized that her face was pressed against the soft material of a warm, black hoodie, her hands were gripping a narrow, masculine waist, and her body was wrapped in the most calming embrace she could remember.

And that was great and all, but how would she explain her sudden tears?

Well.

Damn.

She pulled away, hoping her makeup wasn't completely ruined and fumbled in her purse for a napkin or something.

"Sakura-san." Her name was gentle on his lips, and she raised her gaze a fraction to see the handkerchief he was offering her. She took it with trembling hands and dabbed at her face and eyes. Meanwhile, her brain scrambled to come up with some excuse or reason for her emotional behaviour.

"I… I am sorry about that," she managed. Her attempt to look him in the eye failed miserably, and her gaze stopped at his throat and refused to go further.

"No need to apologize. Was it perhaps something I said?" he asked. Sakura shook her head.

"My life," she hedged. "Is really not going the way I want. Tonight my thoughts have been… particularly distracted and I… I'm sorry you had to see that…"

She still couldn't look him in the eyes.

Again she felt that guilty anxiousness. It wasn't that what she told him was untrue, it was just that yes… It _had_ been something he had said.

"Look at me," he said.

She tried.

Failed.

"Sakura-san," he said. She got the sense that he was coaxing her even though his tone had yet to change.

She tried again.

Failed.

He caught her chin with his thumb and pointer finger and lifted her face until they made eye contact. Sakura's eyes darted restlessly over his face, unable to look him in the eyes. If she did she felt like he would be able to see her entire failure of a life.

"Do you still want ice-cream?"

Wait, what?

She was sure he would press her about the reason for her tears. Sasuke would have. Naruto would have. _Ino_ would have.

Uchiha-san didn't.

It was either he didn't care or he strangely enough was aware of how little she wanted to talk about her tears.

Her three best friends loved her dearly, but they all thought that her feelings about some things didn't matter. Sure, they would care about why she was crying with the aim of consoling her, but the price of that was that they would completely disregard her embarrassment.

They would also tell her that it was either okay or that it would be okay. One of those was a lie and the other was entirely uncertain and not for them to assume.

The fact of the matter was that she was _not_ okay and the possibility of her being okay was bleak. After all, five years had done nothing to chip away at the pain she endured when Sasuke left her and then when he got married to Hinata.

And _that_ pain was eclipsed by the agony she felt whenever she saw the _love_ in his eyes when he looked at his wife. She hadn't believed it when she had first heard. There had been no great wedding. Nothing for her to prepare herself with.

One day she still had a chance and was working her way around to dating him again. He'd even given her a drunken kiss on his birthday. Three days had passed and in that time he had gotten married.

She hadn't seen it coming and he hadn't looked her way twice after that. It was like she had been wiped from his mind.

Trivial.

Unimportant.

Not worth even a heads up so she could try to gather herself.

She'd found out while conducting a bloody law survey.

She didn't think that even _Ino_ understood how painful and traumatic that had been for her. She had felt the cardboard box and threadbare blanket she had been discarded in rubbing against her soul.

Abandonment.

"Sakura-san…?"

The voice pulled her back into the present again.

"Yes?" she said, her mind still hazy.

"Ice-cream?"

Ice-cream.

Yes.

She nodded.

"Un."

* * *

As strange as it might seem, he was beginning to see her depth.

She had loved.

She had lost.

She had been broken.

He understood, to some degree, why she didn't want love. As she had aptly put it, she needed a friend.

Itachi thought of why he was even here tonight, and came to it that Sasuke was not the only thing they had in common.

Broken loves.

The need for a friend they could depend on.

Pizza.

His perception of what it was he needed out of this union was changing by the day. What he had originally conceptualized as ideal now seemed as smooth and perfect as cold marble. What he saw now was full of tears and companionship.

A relationship.

He had wanted to avoid one.

So why wasn't running from this?

Maybe it was because he sensed something in her. Something that was in himself. Whereas he didn't think his pain could heal at this point, as the scars had hardened around it like a shield, she was still soft and vulnerable. He hadn't had the benefit of someone who understood the depth of what he had experienced; Sakura-san could be able to find that in him. She didn't have to go on the same path he had been forced to take.

His pain couldn't even be accessed at this point, much less healed.

Itachi scanned her tear-ruined makeup with careful eyes.

There was a fountain a few metres away, and he guided her in that direction. She followed without hesitation, still slightly unsteady. Her heels clattered on the paving stones as she tottered behind him. Itachi tugged his handkerchief from her clenched fist and wet it.

As he wiped at her smudged makeup, Itachi marvelled at the strangeness of this situation. If Shisui had told him that he would be neatening a woman's makeup with his favorite handkerchief tonight, he would have laughed out loud.

When he finished and leaned back to check his work, he found her green eyes pinned to his face. Her expression held confusion, gratitude, surprise, and something else he couldn't place.

The combination made him feel a strange unidentifiable mixture of emotions. They both pulled in shaky breaths and stepped apart.

Her hands fluttered up to her face, her fingers half-concealed by the sleeves of her sweater. Her eyelashes were still damp and spiky and they made her eyes look even wider when she looked up at him, wordlessly asking for confirmation.

He nodded. Yes. Apart from a bit of redness in her eyes, she looked okay.

"Ice-cream…" she said then with a shaky smile and a self-conscious chuckle, which was followed by a heart-softening sniff.

Itachi resisted the urge to ruffle her hair.

* * *

This was one time Sakura was eagerly accepting how wrong she was about something.

Or rather, someone.

Uchiha Itachi was not an automaton.

He wasn't even cold.

In actuality, he was revealing to her that he was a gentle soul. His impassive expression hid a caring interior. She supposed a man like him was very easily misunderstood, and if things hadn't happened precisely as they had tonight she probably would never seen this side of him.

She had watched his face as he cleaned her makeup, finding it strange how the person that knew her the least was the one that was gently wiping away her tears. Ino would have told her to wipe them herself. Sasuke probably would have left after giving her the handkerchief, and would have expected her to take care of the rest. Naruto most likely wouldn't have even had a handkerchief to begin with.

The wind picked up, but Sakura didn't even notice the cold as they slowly walked. In this weather, ice-cream wasn't the smartest choice, but even though Sakura wasn't a genius, she could sense that it wasn't about the ice-cream per se.

The ice-cream was synonymous with a distraction.

A very welcome distraction.

They said nothing as they walked, which gave Sakura a moment to gather her thoughts and compose herself. By the time they got to the ice-cream parlour, she felt more or less herself. Somehow his response to her tears, or lack thereof, had kept her embarrassment at bay. She felt almost… comfortable.

Uchiha-san opened the door for her and then stepped in afterwards. The interior of the parlour was warmed to perfection, a welcome change from the nippy temperatures outside.

As expected, the parlour was empty.

A server looked up from her phone when they entered and greeted them with a smile and a cheerful welcome.

"Do you want to hear about our combinations, or do you already know what you want?" she asked afterwards, sliding her phone into a pocket on her apron.

"You may inform us," Uchiha-san said. Sakura stifled a smile. He sounded so stiff and formal. The server blinked but then gamely smiled and directed them to a booth.

"Right this way," she said before proceeding to list the various combinations. Sakura smiled at her passion, sensing another foodie.

"What would you suggest?" she asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. The server smiled.

"First date, right? I'd suggest the Lover's Bowl. You can get two, four or six scoops of gourmet ice-cream crafted in an array of stunning ice-cream sculptures. The most popular is 'Rose Garden' which is served with freshly baked waffles-"

"We will take that one," Itachi interrupted smoothly, apparently needing to hear no more. When they decided the flavors for the coffee roses and the server left their table, Sakura and Uchiha-san began to talk.

"I was thinking that in this weather ice-cream would be a bit unwise, but it's so warm in here," Sakura said on a pleased sigh.

"I've wanted to come here. However, they only offer servings for couples or groups," he replied, looking around.

"I'm sure you have many people that would love to accompany you here," Sakura said, fiddling with the strap of her purse.

"Hn," he grunted in response.

"What does that mean?" Sakura asked with a little laugh.

"There aren't many people I want to bring here," he clarified, folding his arms across his chest. Sakura absently noticed the sleeves of his hoodie stretched over his biceps.

"Ah… So I'm special then," she said. "Or did it just turn out that way because of my waterworks?"

He blinked.

Looked away.

"Hn."

Sakura's brows pulled together slightly. That 'Hn' sounded different to the first one somehow.

"What does that mean?"

He looked back at her.

Glanced away.

"Perhaps both," was his response. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but the server reappeared with a large and stunning bowl of ice-cream.

"Your ice-cream is here," she sing-songed happily, as if merely serving this brought her joy. The scent of the freshly made waffles was _insane._ Sakura found herself leaning forward helplessly in appreciation.

Nested in the still-warm, golden-brown, icing sugar dusted waffles were six beautiful ice-cream roses. Three were in varying degrees of red and pink and three were varying degrees of white and cream. Superfine crushed toppings in a beautiful array of browns, reds and whites were artfully scattered towards the edges.

It was an ice-cream bouquet.

"Oh, this is fantastic," Sakura oohed.

Uchiha-san replied.

She knew he replied.

But she didn't hear his reply, because the bell sounded when the parlour door opened, and in walked none other than Uchiha Sasuke and his daughter Mizuki.

Well, damn.

* * *

 **Please review, my lovelies!**

 **As it relates to the secret… well… who knows when it will reveal itself!**


	14. 4: Well, Damn (3)

**AN: Guysss I am so sorryyy! I made an error in the last chapter. I have corrected it but I will just mention it here. Sasuke did not kiss Sakura on HER birthday, he did it on HIS.**

 **For those of you who read The Confession, you would remember how on that birthday when he finally confessed to Hinata and she turned him down because at that point she was still in love with Naruto, Sasuke went a bit crazy and got hella drunk which was how he ended up married to Hinata in the first place.**

 **Sasuke kinda revealed that when they got back to uni the following Monday but even then it wasn't public knowledge.**

 **Not that it changes much, but I thought I would clarify that here.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Well, Damn (3)**

* * *

Sakura felt as if her every nerve had gone into overdrive. Her face felt hot, her body trembled, and her mind scrambled to make sense of the situation. What in Kami's name was she to do?

Her mouth went dry, her eyes burned and she felt the distinct desire to hide.

The look of shock and confusion on Sasuke's face didn't make the situation any better.

"Well this is something I never expected to see," he said, his husky voice dragging Sakura's heart over hot coals. "What are you two doing together here?" Mizuki released her father's hand, solemnly climbed into her uncle's lap and wrapped childishly chubby arms around his neck. After placing a kiss on his cheek, she quietly turned and sat. Uchiha-san pressed a kiss to the top of her head, wrapped an equally serious arm around her waist and wordlessly fed her a piece of a strawberry.

"We have been discussing marriage," he said without preamble. Sasuke's entire body stiffened.

"...What?"

"This is hardly surprising," Uchiha-san said unconcernedly, feeding Mizuki another piece of strawberry. She wrapped a chubby fist around his finger and looked up at her father with wide black eyes. Sasuke looked back and forth between Sakura and his brother, his brows furrowed as if he couldn't quite decide what to make of the situation.

He could join the club.

Sakura wasn't sure what she made of it either.

Her shoulders were so tense they felt like rocks growing from her spine.

Quite frankly at this point she didn't know how she was holding herself together. She felt like if she breathed she would shatter.

"Nii-san…" Sasuke said after a tense moment. "See me outside."

What was happening?

Sakura watched in silent helplessness as Uchiha-san deposited Mizuki in her lap then stalked outside after his brother. Sakura craned her neck to look at them, but was distracted by Mizuki who tapped gently on her hand.

"Bewwy," the toddler garbled, pointing at the cut strawberries. The warm weight of Sasuke's little daughter in her arms, the feeling of her baby teeth scraping slightly against her finger as she fed her a piece of strawberry, and the glorious scent of her impossibly soft black hair made Sakura's eyes well up with defeated tears.

Then suddenly she was angry.

Why was she the one that was always crying?

She fed Mizuki another piece of a berry and sent an anxious glance at the door. She felt like ants were crawling over her skin; the desire to know what was being said was so strong. However, fear kept her seated.

What if she found out and it only served to make matters worse?

What would Sasuke say to Uchiha-san? His statement made it pretty obvious that he wasn't aware of his brother's plans. That thought should be relieving but all Sakura could feel right now was overwhelming anxiety.

Would he accept it? If he did that would probably mean that he has certainly never felt anything for her. Most men would abhor seeing their brothers with people they had dated. _Kissed. Slept with._ He has gone so far as to tell his brother that she had been _passionate_ so shouldn't that mean that by default he had also admitted that they had been in a relationship?

And if that was so how could Uchiha-san be so unconcerned about that fact that he'd be okay marrying her?

Suddenly the different things he'd done and said came under scrutiny.

On the other hand… would he object? That notion made her heart leap with pathetic excitement; the thought that he possibly didn't want his brother to have her. Then again, her heart sank.

She hadn't been good enough for _him,_ so ten chances to one he wouldn't consider her to be good enough for his brother either.

The brothers were close.

Uchiha-san would most likely take Sasuke's advice.

There was a very high possibility that she would be would be discarded again.

Her reaction to that was so violent it had her shooting to her feet. Mizuki in hand, she found herself almost running to the door.

No.

She'd lost Sasuke.

She'd lost every boyfriend since.

She didn't want to lose Uchiha-san. Not when it seemed like they were starting to become friends of some sort.

* * *

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked, concern and confusion evident in his tone.

"Hn," Itachi responded affirmatively. "You seem to be objecting," he stated. Sasuke frowned and cast a glance back at the ice-cream parlour door. He seemed to be debating whether or not to say something.

His reluctance worried Itachi.

What was he holding back?

He must know things about Sakura from their friendship. Was there possibly something that would make the match unfavourable?

"Why Sakura?" Sasuke asked finally when his gaze returned to Itachi. His arms crossed over his chest and he shifted slightly until he was standing between Itachi and the parlour (and therefore Sakura).

Itachi smiled.

His brother's straightened stature, slightly puffed chest, possessive stance and wary eyes all pointed to one thing.

Protection.

"Our desires in life align, and we are becoming… closer," he responded. Sasuke didn't seem impressed.

"Sakura needs _love_ Nii-san. If you don't have it to give her, don't get her hopes up," he warned. His tone and words strangely offended Itachi.

"Not by her admission. She seems to only need someone to _care,_ " he countered, not knowing why he was suddenly so annoyed. He couldn't understand Sasuke's expression following his words.

"She said _I_ didn't care and so she went to you?"

Itachi was now fully angered by Sasuke's incredulous reaction. As if he was implying that Itachi would somehow care less about a spouse than he would.

"Sasuke, perhaps-" Itachi started, intending to clarify that particular point. He didn't get to.

"She _did_ tell you that we dated, right?" Sasuke asked, now looking a bit unsure.

They dated.

Why the words were such a blow, Itachi didn't know. His ears rung and his stomach twisted in a decidedly uncomfortable manner. He scrambled for a default response in order to conceal this from his little brother.

"Hn."

"I couldn't give her what she needed, and it hurt her badly. She's avoided me to some extent ever since," Sasuke began.

It hadn't been the Inuzuka.

It had been Sasuke.

His little brother was the reason _Sakura_ got drunk at weddings and cried at the mere sound of his name. Things were falling into place in his mind so rapidly that Itachi's head spun.

Sasuke had hurt Sakura so badly she'd signed off love completely, even though everything about her screamed that she would thrive on it.

And now Itachi was more angry than he had been in a while.

" _Why_ would you have dated Sakura when you were in love with Hinata since you were toddlers?" he fired, now the one in the protective stance. He pinned his brother with a strong, disapproving stare.

"What?"

It wasn't Sasuke who gasped the question. Both males turned in unison to see Sakura standing there, her eyes wide and dismayed, with Muzuki in tow.

"What did you just say?" she asked, glancing back and forth between the brothers. Itachi's heart hurt for her.

She hadn't known.

All this time had she been unaware of that fact?

Sasuke had hidden his regard for Hinata for a long time, but in addition he had apparently hidden it well. Itachi could tell from her body language that this was the first time she had been hearing this.

He didn't even know the full story but the little he knew was enough to tell him that this situation must be hellish for her.

However, there seemed to be no more tears on the horizon.

In fact, her eyes began to blaze with a fire Itachi had never expected to see.

It was quite impressive.

Well.

 _Damn._

* * *

 **This one is admittedly short, but, I plan to have more installments of this arc than usual. Bear with meh hehe and do review!**


	15. 4: Well, Damn (4)

**AN: Aand here I am again. Hoping you all have been having a great weekend! Wanted to post last night, but some reviewers seem to really hate the shorter chapters, so I had to add more to this one~! I have realized that even though they are arcs, coming from AIA they were almost crazily short, so I will TRY to do better. Also, every now and again I will TRY to drop in a decently long chapter.**

 **Hopefully I will be able to get next week's chapters done on time!**

 **Thank you guys so mucchhh for the reviews though! I love when I know how you stand on some matters, and I can't tell you how amazing it feels when you guys can relate to the characters the way I write them!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Well, Damn (4)**

* * *

"You _what?"_ Sakura repeated when Sasuke stared back silently at her. His face was the only thing in focus right now and she was not sure it was a good thing because under the confusion she was _so mad._

He sighed, and she watched as his eyebrows twitched in the centre as she knew he did when he was trying to find the right words.

She didn't want the right words.

She wanted the _truth._

"Sasuke," she ground out, eyes narrowing and her face beginning to feel hot.

"I've always loved her," he admitted finally, before continuing, "but I really-"

Sakura held up a hand. She didn't need to hear more. She couldn't hear any more. His voice had already began to fade out of focus, and she took a step back when he made as if to approach her.

Again.

She was apparently the last to know.

Once again, annoyingly and frustratingly, Ino had been right.

 _Again._

This was seriously getting ridiculous.

She was beyond pathetic at this point. She was an actual loser, and this literally had to stop.

Immediately.

"Just clarify something for me, Sasuke," she said, her voice scarily calm. She hadn't felt this calm when confronted with anything to do with Sasuke in a while, and honestly she was frightening herself. She felt as if she was on the top of a really thin wall, with complete emotional combustion on one side, and murderous frost on the other. "When you kissed me on your birthday, what was that about, exactly? If you were in love with Hinata before we got together, the entire time we were and even after we were together, what in the world made you do that?"

Sasuke stared at her as if she had grown horns.

"I did what?" he asked, looking a bit shell-shocked. His eyes were wider than she thought capable. Wide enough that she could very clearly _see_ his honesty. "I … _kissed_ you?"

He didn't remember.

She had been _hanging on_ , for so, _sooo_ long to something that was not even a part of his memory. He didn't remember. She'd known he hadn't been completely sober, but to find out that he didn't even recall the moment she'd taken as affirmation was… well, sobering.

Damn.

The wind was almost completely out of her sails before she could refreshingly blow off some steam.

Once again, she was the idiot.

"You…" she started, teetering on the edge of emotion, but then once again, suddenly, nothing came forth. This was _strange._ "Never mind," she said, suddenly feeling really tired of Sasuke. She was tired of seeing him, tired of wanting him, tired of remembering him, tired of loving him.

She felt different.

For the very first time since she'd fallen for him, Sakura actually _wanted_ to let him go.

At this point, hanging on to the feelings she had for him was like voluntarily walking into an endless desert with no water or provisions. At some point, she would completely dry up and probably become a fossil.

She _really_ didn't want that for herself.

Something made her glance at Uchiha-san.

He was staring back at her, his black eyes seeming even darker than before somehow, and they shared an inexplicable connection. Sakura couldn't describe the feeling she felt, or the thoughts that ran through her mind for just a split second, or what this could even possibly mean, but she was very sure of one thing.

Sasuke would no longer be a con of a relationship with Uchiha Itachi.

She refused to care about him that way anymore, and she refused to let him hold her back from something or someone that could foster some actual growth in her life. She really didn't need love or romance right now. She wasn't against it, but she wasn't going to actively seek it out either.

Instead, she wanted to just, as Ino had suggested, find herself somehow.

Outside of Sasuke, what was it she wanted? Who was she? Without thinking about what he would think of her, what choices would she make?

Her gaze stayed pinned on his older brother, who was at this point, silently staring right back at her. As if pulled by a magnet, Sakura slowly walked over to him and took his warm hand in hers.

His long fingers wrapped firmly but gently around hers.

He didn't hesitate even for a second.

As if he had been _calling_ her over.

"Itachi-san," she said softly, so softly she could barely hear herself; because even though she was on the verge of something new, speaking any louder would take more courage than she possibly possessed.

"Hn," was his response.

"Our ice-cream will have been ruined right now…" she said, staring down at their linked hands. At her other side, Mizuki's tiny hand was still wrapped in hers. A vague longing brushed against the insides of her soul for an instant, and she quickly let the toddler's hand go.

Mizuki looked up at her with large black eyes and then trotted over to her father and gently patted his leg.

Sasuke had been staring at Sakura with a strange mixture of confusion, disbelief and concern and it took him a moment to even realize that his daughter was calling for his attention. He absently picked her up, and it seemed like he wanted to say something to Sakura, but she didn't want to hear anything from him.

Anything he said right now, any excuse or reason he gave, any type of consolation he tried to give would only serve to make her feel even more pathetic than she already felt.

' _I'm sorry I didn't love you.'_

' _You were easier than the person I really loved.'_

' _I tried to be the one for you. '_

' _I tried to accept you as the one for me.'_

She saw those words in his eyes.

She had no need for them; hearing them would only make them more real than she was ready for.

A stiff, cold gust of wind, almost scarily similar to how Sakura felt about Sasuke now, rushed between them, taking with it leaves and tiny particles of dust. It felt like it had created a physical chasm between them, mirroring the emotional one that had just cracked open.

She looked back up at Uchiha-san who had yet to reply. She didn't really feel to eat ice-cream right now, but she definitely didn't want to be alone.

But it was late.

It was probably too late to go somewhere else.

No matter how over Sasuke she wanted to be, Sakura was in no way going to spend the night with Uchiha-san; it was far too early for that and frankly she wasn't interested in him that way.

But she didn't want to be alone just yet.

She didn't want to go home.

She wasn't really ready to face her new convictions just yet, and so she didn't want to be taken to her house right now.

But she didn't want to be the one to extend their outing. She had already called him out seemingly against his will based on his response during their call. The beginning of the night seemed so far away now.

It felt like so many things had happened since.

For one, her entire frame of mind had changed.

She felt like she had become a different person in a mere four hours.

It was an exhausting process.

* * *

She looked so tired all of a sudden.

Her comment about the ice-cream could mean multiple things. He wasn't in the mood for the sweet treat anymore, but he didn't want to assume that her comment meant the same thing.

He also didn't feel comfortable ending the night here. It had turned out so pleasantly before Sasuke showed up that it would be a shame to end it on such a sour note.

But it was late.

They probably shouldn't stay out much longer, but what was he to do?

"Sasuke. We will speak later," he said, not really wanting to see his little brother right now. For the first time in a long time, Itachi was actually disappointed in his otouto. He might do or say something rash if he stayed any longer. It seemed as if Sakura-san had barely managed to restrain the burst of anger he had seen in her eyes. Something Sasuke had said seemed to have diffused her somewhat… but diffused didn't feel like the right word; she didn't seem to have forgiven him or anything. She just… hadn't reacted as violently as he had somehow expected her to.

Sasuke had called her _passionate._

The word and its connotations now that he was aware they dated made him feel uneasy. A small, strange, immovable feeling akin to a weak whirlwind of heavy hot air had somehow developed in his chest. He had no idea how to dispel it and he didn't like it.

Quite frankly he wasn't entirely sure why he was having such a strong reaction to what had been revealed to him tonight. That said, he didn't feel good sending her home because of the turn the night had taken.

So as they walked away, her small hand in his larger one, Itachi did something else for the first time that night.

"Would you like to watch a late movie?"

Usually, he would go to the premiers or private showings. He _never_ went to regular showings in regular cinemas. But tonight, he would.

For Sakura-san.

"What's showing?" she asked, a bit warily. Itachi stuck his free hand into his hoodie pocket.

"Does it matter?"

She gave a small chuckle and moved a little bit closer to him.

"Not really."

A few days later, Itachi was still thinking about that night.

They had watched the movie in silence, not unfocused enough to miss out on the plot or developments, but not focused enough to really enjoy it either. The night had still ended on a distinctly unsatisfactory note, however based on the time, neither of them was really able to do anything about it.

And so it lingered on Itachi's mind.

They hadn't made any plans to meet again, but Itachi was of the understanding that they were both inclined to follow through with the proposal. Still, in keeping with her terms, they would have to go on a total of six dates before he introduced her formally to his family. To his understanding, and strangely enough, his desire, that 'date' a few nights ago was not to be counted.

He wanted to see her again, but he wasn't sure if he should speak to Sasuke before or after he met with her. He wasn't ecstatic about the fact that they dated, and he was even less pleased with the fact that they had slept together regularly for the time that they dated, but that was in the past. He'd decided pretty early on that even taking that into consideration, Sakura-san was still the best choice for him.

He wasn't really worried about her having relations with his little brother in the future, because there was nothing more convincing of the love Sasuke had for Hinata than the way they looked at each other. He was, however, concerned about how much pain Sakura could potentially be in seeing that very display on a regular basis. As beneficial as the match was to him, he _never_ wanted to be in the position of putting a woman through emotional devastation ever again.

He should perhaps meet with Sakura-san first.

He would know what to say to Sasuke based on what she said.

When he attempted to call her, though, the call went through to voicemail.

Multiple times.

After six attempts throughout the day, Itachi was faced with a small amount of panic that maybe they were not on the same page after all.

"Uchiha-san?" Yamato queried. "Is everything alright?"

"Hn?"

"You have been staring at your phone for quite some time. Are you expecting a call?" Yamato pressed. Itachi refused to give him any information. That would only be transported in hushed tones back to his mother, who would ruin everything by acting too soon. Itachi was not about to have this fall through.

"A billing issue," he fibbed, turning his gaze back to his screen, even though his mind was in the same position.

It seemed he was getting quite attached to Haruno Sakura.

Before he knew it, his gaze slid back to the screen of his phone.

And before he knew it, he was reaching for said phone.

And before he knew it, he was calling her again.

This time, he told himself it was because of the worry. What if something had happened to her?

She answered on the fourth ring.

"...Mm'lo?"

She had clearly been sleeping.

When he heard that soft, muffled tone, he imagined unfocused, sleep-bleared green eyes, a cotton-candy bedhead, and the kind of warm softness that only seemed to be generated by being in bed for an extended period of time.

He wanted to see that with his own eyes.

This desire was what he hadn't expected.

And Itachi had to face it, right then and there, that despite everything he had intended going into this, after a few short moments of shared time, he was quite attracted to Haruno Sakura.

Well.

Damn.

* * *

' _And you know that I know'_

' _You got some ways about you'_

Sakura woke up from a dream-ridden sleep, completely disoriented, and to the sound of her ringing phone. It was a song that had been the background to one of the most profound moments she'd had with Sasuke.

The moment she had fallen for him.

She desperately needed that song to stop.

 _Ways_ by Haku would never create the pastel, cotton-candy pink, slow motion bliss it usually did. Instead, it felt like red hot needles raining down on her.

She reached out blindly for her phone, her fingers scrabbling over the glass of her smartphone screen before she managed to answer it and press the device to her ear.

"Mm'lo?" she answered groggily. It was only _after_ she answered that she remembered she hadn't intended to.

She didn't really feel like that whole situation had been cleared up well. She hadn't released that explosion within her when the time was right, and she had placed herself in a strange limbo room.

Days after the moment had passed, she had thought of a bajillion things she could have done and said.

She had withdrawn. She'd ignored all of Sasuke's five calls, which she considered to be a measly amount considering the situation, and she had made no attempt to contact Ita… Uchiha-san.

Instead, she threw herself into the next installment of her latest series. Under the umbrella of work, she took a break from the people in her life. She'd gone to her small lodge up in the mountains behind the Kage Mountain and immersed herself in another world.

But now she had gone and answered and this was probably Sasuke and now her hibernation was ruined.

"Sakura-san?"

Smooth, velvety tone.

Definitely not Sasuke.

This was the calmer, older, safer Uchiha.

"Ah yes, Uchiha-san…" she murmured, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and trying to clear her throat discreetly. There was a somewhat stony silence on the other end of the line. "Hello?" she continued, wondering if she had somehow managed to disconnect the call.

A glance to her phone screen through squinted eyes told her that this was not the case, as the call was still running.

"Hello?" she said again.

"Have you been alright?" he responded then. "It has been a few days…"

Oh.

Was he…?

"Are you checking up on me?" she asked, not even realizing that she had started to smile a bit.

"You may have been ill…" he explained, sounding somehow stiffer than he had when she last spoke to him.

"I… I am not _ill_ ," she said, a bit awkwardly. "I have been… busy."

"I see," he said. Sakura couldn't tell if he was miffed or understanding, but she got the vague hint of saltiness over the line. Why that was amusing to her, she had no earthly idea.

"Would you like to meet for breakfast?" she offered, somehow mollified, even though she wasn't sure why _he_ was the one to make her relax somewhat.

Or why his almost monosyllabic sentences made her feel like she had reacted a little pettily to the whole Sasuke scenario. Internally, her defenses rose; she hadn't blown up like she really wanted to, and now she felt like a prematurely diffused bomb that would probably erupt at some completely random moment in the future.

She didn't like that lingering sense of dissatisfaction. It made her feel antsy and impatient.

"It is after one in the afternoon," he objected. Sakura could almost see him doing that thing where he frowned without actually moving a muscle in his face.

"Do you want to meet me for breakfast, or not?" she asked a little pettily.

"..."

There was no answer, and then…

"Where do you want to go?"

* * *

 **Let the falling begin.**

 ***bows smugly***

 **Honestly, since the get go I have been waiting for this moment, and there are a few I am DYING to write. So while it will be a slow burn for Sakura, I have a feeling that Itachi will… well…** _ **slowly burn.**_

 **Kuhahahaha! Revieweth~**


	16. 4: Well, Damn (5)

**AN: You guys have been amazing as usual. There are a particular few reviewers that have been really constant, consistent and awesome, but I will wait a few chapters to shout them out properly. (^_^)**

 **Also the guest who knew the 'iffy iffy' reference requested hot kisses. Hope to show you some of that in the not so distant future! Read on~~**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Well, Damn (5)**

* * *

He eyed her a bit warily.

He wasn't sure what to think of someone who heartily ate eggs, pancakes and bacon (clearly a breakfast meal, even down to the orange juice) at half past three in the afternoon. It just wasn't… _right._

And it made him feel awkward sitting in front of her with a steak and salad. The chef had made her meal for her by personal request because she was, unsurprisingly, on good terms with him.

He cast a glance to the other diners, wondering who else was baffled by their vastly different meals.

"Does it freak you out that much?" she asked with a little smirk as she poured copious amounts of syrup over her pancakes.

"Hn," Itachi responded around a bite of his salad. Sakura-san rested down her fork long enough to tuck her slightly damp and curling hair behind her ear before taking it up again.

"It's because I just woke up," she explained. "My stomach calls for breakfast food."

"But the time…" Itachi protested, a bit exasperated. This was quite confusing for him. It was clearly a time to be eating something more… wholesome than 'breakfast food'. She was very casual today somehow, as if she had given up on trying to be poised after the debacle with Sasuke. Even though she had handled that very well, in his estimation, she had noticeably changed.

She was wearing a cropped T-shirt, shorts and white sneakers. She had apparently just washed her hair, and was wearing minimal makeup (something he noticed because even though he wasn't close enough to focus on them, her freckles were a bit more visible today).

He quite liked the change. She looked quite charming.

She seemed to actually be more _herself._

"Don't try to tell my stomach what to do," she said before sighing in appreciation over a bite of pancakes. She nodded, her eyes squinted shut in delight. "Mmm yes. My belly wants what it wants."

Itachi gave her a dubious look before continuing to eat.

"You were unreachable… for days," he said sometime later. Sakura-san looked up at him and blinked. Her cheeks tinted slightly, and she dabbed at her lips with her napkin.

"I was working," she explained. "I don't like to be bothered when the muse is with me." She looked askance.

She was holding something back.

"You were hiding," he noted with a slow understanding nod. "From me?"

"I was not _hiding,"_ she sputtered, gaping at him. Her hair had dried a bit more and was now in softer, lighter-coloured curls. Itachi raised a rather disbelieving brow.

"I _wasn't_ ," she stressed, resting down her fork and narrowing her green eyes.

His brow rose higher.

She glanced to the side.

" _Fine,_ " she admitted, under her breath as she picked up her fork again. "I needed a _moment,_ but I wasn't really hiding per se. Not from you anyway."

"Sasuke?" he asked, glancing up from his salad to check her reaction. He caught the last moments of an eye roll.

"I don't think it's necessary to be super visible to someone that doesn't even remember…" she paused, then muttered, "Whatever. I needed a moment." Itachi gave a slight nod of acknowledgement and turned his attention back to his food. They ate quietly for a few minutes and then Itachi looked up, somehow sensing that Sakura was staring at him.

"How did you not know…?" she asked. At his questioning look, she clarified, "About me. I dated Sasuke for two years… granted that was back when we had just started college but…"

Itachi pulled in a quiet breath.

"I knew he was dating someone. He never told me who or how seriously," Itachi answered honestly.

"Did you never ask? Did he ever share any details with you?" Sakura pressed, leaning forward. Itachi glanced down to see that she had finished her lunch… _breakfast_ and then met her gaze again.

"I asked," he said, not really wanting to share any information.

Ever since Sasuke had been a child, he never told Itachi about the girls he liked or asked for advice unless he was fairly certain about them. He had told Itachi about Hinata when he was six. He'd mentioned other girls since, but his excitement had never matched that first time. He'd been noticeably lackluster ever since, something which increased exponentially as time passed. By the time he had been dating Sakura, he hadn't really mentioned her at all.

Itachi's questions had been mostly met with 'Just someone I know' or 'Just a girl'. The only reason Itachi had asked in the first place was because just looking at Sasuke's expressions when in the same room as Hinata had been enough to tell him that his brother's first love had lasted all the way through.

But his claims, as well as the signs, that he had been dating someone back then had made Itachi curious.

Meeting Sakura now, he was fairly positive that she was the only person Sasuke probably thought was capable of distracting him from the one person he wanted, but seemingly couldn't have. Meeting Sakura now, he remembered that she had lasted the longest of any of Sasuke's past girlfriends. Meeting Sakura now, he knew why Sasuke hadn't told him who she was.

Meeting Sakura now, he was certain that she would never be a good match for Sasuke.

Not because she was in any way less than he was, but their aspirations and needs didn't align. Sasuke would never be able to give Sakura the love and attention that she needed, and Sakura didn't have a calming enough personality for Sasuke's inner self to be forced to come out.

Sakura would probably give and give and give, initially without wanting anything in return, but after a while, she would hunger for more. Sasuke on the other hand, would receive with no impulse to return the favor, grow guilty eventually that he wasn't giving back, and then distance himself.

He couldn't give what he didn't have.

Hinata had his heart, and she'd had it for a while. A very long while.

Her quietness forced Sasuke to be more talkative, her particular breed of gentleness made Sasuke want to be more considerate, and her understanding ways made her capable of criticizing Sasuke without raising his defenses. Coupled with the fact that Sasuke had liked her first, all these things made Sasuke actually need to work to keep her.

With someone like Sakura, Sasuke wouldn't need to do anything at all. He'd stressed himself out after spending his energy trying to forget Hinata and being with other more demanding girls, so when Sakura came into the picture, he'd relaxed and gotten lazy.

Complacent.

But knowing Sasuke, the lack of challenge must have completely bored him eventually. His increasing reluctance to tell Itachi who Sakura was when they were dating was pretty much proof of that. Sakura had been comfortable for him... until she wasn't. She had obviously been entertaining enough, or Sasuke had enjoyed the relationship enough for them to be together as long as they were, and for the most part, from what Itachi could remember, Sasuke was as happy as he could have been being with someone who was not what he wanted.

But that wasn't enough, and would never be enough for an Uchiha.

"Uchiha-san?" Sakura was saying, waving her palm before his face.

"Apologies," Itachi murmured, resting his knife and fork on his now empty plate.

"I was asking what he said when you asked," Sakura repeated. Itachi pulled in a breath and tried to remember the nicest thing Sasuke had ever told him about the mystery girl he had been dating at that time.

"He said you were a really good friend, someone he liked being around."

She looked as if he had punched her in the gut.

She clenched her teeth, and her eyes glistened dangerously.

But she looked more angry than sad at this point.

"You were not a good match," Itachi said bluntly. "He is and was incapable of giving you what you deserve," he stated. She looked back at him sharply.

"And you can?"

"Yes," he responded firmly.

"And what makes you think so?" she almost snapped.

"I… will never take more from you than I am capable of giving," he said.

She looked completely stunned, and this time, the wetness in her eyes spilled over.

Oh dear. Before he could react, or even try to figure out exactly why she was crying _now,_ their conversation was interrupted.

"Well, what is going on here?"

Sakura's eyes widened when a third voice pitched in, and she hastily wiped her eyes with the heels of her palms.

"Itachi, I've never known you to be one to make women cry," the voice chided.

It was a voice he would know anywhere.

It was his mother.

* * *

Well.

Damn.

Uchiha Mikoto.

Although she had seen her from a distance multiple times, this was Sakura's first time meeting her, and she barely had on any makeup, her hair was unstyled, and she was wearing shorts and a cropped T-shirt. Even though she was wearing designer items, she was very inappropriately dressed for this occasion, a fact that was made even more glaringly obvious by Uchiha-san's crisp business suit.

Add to that the fact that she had been crying and that was the complete recipe for embarrassment.

She stood in a hurry and dipped in as decent a bow as she could.

Uchiha-san stood as well, but much slower and calmer than she did, and tipped his head in his mother's direction.

Mikoto-san herself was stunning.

She was wearing a flowy designer pantsuit of the softest peach, simple but elegant rose gold and pearl jewelry, and classic makeup. Her hair was beautifully straight, not a single strand out of place, and laid like silk over one of her shoulders. If that was not enough, she smelled positively divine, and it killed Sakura a little that she knew the scent. Sasuke had introduced it to her a few years back.

When he told her about his mother's personal scent.

As in.

Her _own_ perfume scent that wasn't sold in stores, but had been made specifically for her and her alone. The bespoke fragrance smelled different on her than it did in the bottle, but was somehow so much better.

It was perfection.

 _She_ was perfection, and so incredibly beautiful Sakura began feeling distinctly bovine.

Sakura tugged at the hem of her shirt, wondering why in Kami's name she had decided to do any of the things she had done today.

 _Why_ had she decided to ask Uchiha-san out to this weird breakfast-lunch gathering that was way too late to ever be called something as graceful as brunch?

 _Why_ had she decided to disregard his mention of the time?

 _Why_ had she decided to rebel against what she had been reared to do, rebel against the instruction to always be dressed to kill, and instead wear these _clothes that her mother would have murdered her for even possessing in the first place?_

 _Why_ was she even here?

It seemed as if she was incapable of making any right decisions on her own. _Nothing_ she ever did when _she_ made up her mind to do something ever turned out right.

Nothing.

This was going to be a disaster.

She cast a worried glance to Uchiha-san, but he seemed completely unconcerned and unaware of her plight.

This would be terrible.

"Okaa-san," Uchiha-san said smoothly. Sakura could tell where his velvety tones came from. Her own voice would probably sound like nails dragged down a chalkboard if she said anything in the presence of these two.

"This is Sarutobi-Haruno Sakura-san… The woman I intend to marry."

Well.

 _Damn._

* * *

 **Whoo! This arc is complete so…. It would have been longer if last chapter was shorter. Bear with me, the new arc will be with you shortly.**

 **That said, reveiw~~ I am anticipating the responses haha!**


	17. 5: Two Years (1)

**AN: Really wanna get this out of the way cuz after this I won't be focusing on it much more… This will be a short arc as well...**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Two Years (1)**

* * *

"What's on your mind? You seem troubled lately."

"Hn…" Sasuke sighed, resting his cheek against the top of Hinata's head as he stroked mindless circles on the bare skin of her back.

They breathed silently together for a moment, the early morning sunlight bathing their skin with warm, pale, yellow light. Sasuke was lost in thought, and Hinata patiently waited for him to elaborate.

He didn't.

"Is it Sakura?" she asked softly, playing with the fingers of his other hand. A sigh lifted his chest.

"Hn… I dated her for two years… before you," he murmured. He traced the curve of her ear, and they just breathed silently as Hinata waited for him to continue; she already knew he and Sakura had dated, but back then it had just been something that she knew. Outside of both of them being on the outer fringes of who she called her friends, their relationship hadn't really registered any deeper. But Sasuke's mind had already travelled to the past.

* * *

 _ **Seven Years Ago...**_

She was staring back at him, fists curled around her knapsack strap, facing him down as if this was taking some great determination.

He was actually a little surprised that she had approached him first. He would expect something like this from Ino… No, Ino wouldn't be as nervous as Sakura clearly was. Ino would have most likely leaned against his locker door with cool confidence and asked him out.

Sakura, on the other hand, was almost shaking.

He had to admit, she was pretty. She was talented. She was a bit of a ditz, but she _liked him._ That was the important part.

The thing that made Sakura different to the other girls was that she seemed to like him for _him._ That was _really_ what made the difference. That was the only reason he was even considering her right now.

They had been friends for a while, but she'd been more Naruto's friend in the beginning. After getting to know her a bit more in the beginning of high-school, Sasuke came to it that she wasn't half bad.

And he was attracted enough to her to give _something_ with her a shot.

They had… chemistry.

It felt nice.

To know he was in her thoughts. To know she liked him. To see her face brighten, and to see her nervousness whenever he came around.

Unlike someone else whose radar he wasn't even a blip on. Unlike someone else that never even seemed to notice that he existed, especially when his best friend was anywhere in the vicinity.

It felt good to know that someone's gaze followed _him_ like magnet. It might not be the one he wanted, but...

It made him think for a moment or two every so often that maybe Sakura could be the one that could help him get over Hinata. At some point he had to either approach Hinata or let her go. In the end they would both work out to the same thing, because approaching her would only result in being rejected. _That_ much was certain.

Sasuke really didn't feel the need to be told 'no' to his face. And the way she would try to be nice about it would probably make him like her more, and his pain would increase exponentially.

But Sakura.

Sakura was fun. She wasn't the most confident, especially when Ino wasn't around to bolster her, but she tried to cover it up with a snarky brashness that was… cute. He occasionally found himself flirting with her without even noticing when they had started. He would just realize that they were trading words, and that he would be leaning closer to her, and that he was enjoying himself.

She was so close to being someone that could be _something_ in his life that Sasuke found himself being doubly careful.

If he wasn't, she could actually _hurt_ him.

"So… are you going to answer me, or not?" she asked, eyes blazing with false bravado.

"Hn… We may not be well matched," he replied, still considering. She adjusted her knapsack strap over her shoulder and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Bullshit. Well, you won't really know anyway unless you try," she said, her green eyes glistening with resolution. She looked like a little pink kitten attempting to roar.

Her determination was adorable.

Sasuke found his lips twitching with a small smile.

"I've seen you staring, so if you're going to pretend that you're not attracted to me, don't bother," she declared, folding her arms across her chest.

"Hn… I wouldn't be pretending," Sasuke bluffed. She suddenly approached him, situating herself squarely in his personal space. She was so close he could see her individual eyelashes. She was so close he could smell her light perfume, one he'd gotten her for her last birthday. She was so close he could see the freckles that she used to try hiding by putting on _just_ a little too much makeup.

Thank Kami Ino had put a stop to that.

His cheeks tinted; he wasn't unaffected by her proximity, and she grinned then, bright and beautiful. She _was_ a girl, anyway, and he _was_ a normal, red-blooded teenager.

"See? Pretending," she crowed.

"See you tomorrow," Sasuke muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and stepping past her, hiding a small smile.

"You… I'm taking that as acceptance!" Sakura called after him as he strode down the hall. He could hear the grin in her voice, even though her tone was unsure. He waved a hand in response and continued walking.

Maybe, just maybe, she could replace what he couldn't have.

He would ask Itachi's advice later…

* * *

When Sasuke got home that night, he knew that something had gone very, _very_ wrong from the very moment he stepped into the house.

Nothing had changed physically, but a dense mood hung in the air.

Truth be told, things had been getting very tense recently as Itachi and their parents went head to head over the person he chose to date, but it had never quite felt like _this._ The entire house may well have been made of frozen marble, for all the warmth it held at that moment.

His shoulders growing stiff with tension without him even realizing, Sasuke dropped his knapsack on the couch and made his way to Itachi's room. They were as close as brothers could be, but even Sasuke didn't spend unnecessary time around Itachi when his older brother got angry.

And he'd been angry for weeks now.

Sasuke didn't agree with how his parents were handling the whole thing with Itachi's girlfriend, but at nineteen there was precious little he could do about it. His father still called him 'Boy' for Kami's sake.

And so he stayed out of it.

Besides, he was a teenager, on the brink of his twenties, and the current feud his parents and Itachi were having made it very easy for him to stay out and do whatever he liked; they weren't really focusing on him.

The door to Itachi's bedroom was ajar, as it usually was, but the light wasn't on inside, which was strange. Usually, Itachi only really locked his bedroom door when he was asleep. Sasuke had no idea what Itachi would be doing awake with the lights off.

Unless…

Flicking the light switch on proved his suspicions, as the stark emptiness of the room was illuminated.

Itachi was gone.

His clothing, his shoes, his records, his wines, the pictures and toiletries he kept on his dresser, _everything._

Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his brother's car outside either, which was strange for this time of night.

He withdrew his phone from his pocket, checking to see if there were any missed calls, any messages, any texts. There was nothing. He hadn't missed his brother's attempt to let him know he was going to be moving out.

Unless...

His heart suddenly beginning to race, Sasuke spun on his heel and raced back out of the room.

"Okaa-san!"

And then he remembered. His parents were both in Iwa for a benefit. They would have left this morning shortly after he left for his first class.

There was no way he could tell his cousins or uncles about this, because that would most likely set off a slew of clan-related repercussions that would cause Itachi more harm than good. His parents wouldn't answer; not at this time anyway, and Itachi's phone went directly to voicemail.

He must have turned it off.

His desperate attempts to call Naruto were all in vain. His best friend's phone was off all night, and it wasn't until Sasuke was next to screaming in frustration that he realized that Naruto was at an away game.

He wouldn't be answering until tomorrow evening at best.

He checked his phone, scrolling through the names and realizing that everyone in his phone was Naruto's friend. There was no one in his contact list that he felt he could speak to about any of this, apart from Naruto himself.

And Naruto wasn't answering.

His fingers slowed as he scrolled, mentally crossing everyone off the list until…

 _Haruno Sakura._

Before he even really thought about it too much, he pressed the call button.

And it rang.

Once.

Twice.

"Hello?"

She sounded surprised. Happy. Nervous.

"Hey. Can I… can I see you?"

* * *

 _ **Present**_

Sasuke turned to Hinata, looking her directly in the eyes.

"I dated Sakura… because at one point, I felt like she was the only person that cared about me."

* * *

 **Aaand that is part one!**

 **Thoughts?**


	18. 5: Two Years (2)

**Hold onto your seatbelts. Prepare yourselves for timeskips. I don't know if everyone is like me, but I am so done with SasuSaku references in this story, so let's really just get this over with and out of the way! I refuse to do another chapter on this hahahaha!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Two Years (2)**

* * *

 _ **Seven Years Ago…**_

She had somehow scraped together the courage to ask him out, and even though he hadn't outright denied her, and she had told him that his lack of response to her meant she was taking it as a yes, Sakura was far from convinced that she had succeeded.

Until he called her.

That very night.

"Hello?" she answered, her heart in her throat and her brain not quite processing that this was even happening.

"Hey," he replied. His voice sounded funny, but then again this was the first time she had ever spoken to him on the phone. They had texted occasionally, but there was not even a singular chance occasion in which Sasuke had ever called her.

"Hi…" she managed, feeling useless. Her brain was pretty much gooey matter at this point.

"Uh… What are you doing right now?" he asked. Sakura looked around her room, which was covered in open books and scattered papers.

"Um, nothing. I was just reading…" she hedged. Well, it wasn't a lie. It's just that she wasn't reading so much as researching.

"Wanna hang out?" he asked after a short moment.

Did she ever!

"S-Sure. Where should we meet?" she asked, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. He chuckled softly.

"It's dark out. I'll pick you up," he said. "Is an hour fine?"

No. She would need a week's preparation for this at least.

"Sure," she heard herself say. "I can be ready in half hour." The words had scarcely left her lips before she realized how stupid that was. There was no way in hell she could be ready to see Uchiha Sasuke in thirty minutes!

"Half hour it is," he said, before she could even backtrack. She opened her mouth to make an attempt, but he continued with, "I'll see you then," and hung up.

Well.

Shit.

She needed to shave her legs.

Her hair was a mess, and needed to be washed. And flat-ironed. And styled.

She had no idea where he was taking her, much less what to wear for wherever that was.

She really only had one option.

She pressed the number one on her phone, her hands trembling as she speed-dialled the only person that could help her.

"Ino, help me," she croaked as soon as the line opened.

"What's the matter?" Ino asked, sounding a bit distracted.

"Um… So I'm not really sure, but I think I am dating Uchiha Sasuke." There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line.

" _What?"_ Ino gasped.

"But that's not all," Sakura groaned. "He's coming to pick me up in thirty minutes, but he didn't tell me where we are going and I don't know what to wear, and I need to do my hair and shave my legs, and I am freaking out right now-" Sakura rambled, her words running over each other.

"Sakura," Ino tried to interrupt.

"And I look an absolute mess right now, what am I gonna-"

"SAKURA!" Ino yelled into the phone, effectively shutting Sakura up.

"It's nine thirty on a school night, so he most likely isn't going to take you to anywhere fancy. Besides, that is not his style. Shower, rinse your hair and shave your legs, then wear the black top and the sequined skirt you got last weekend with the rose-gold sandals I got you and then just gel your hair back-"

"But my forehead… and makeup-" Sakura wailed, interrupting.

"Your forehead is fine. Just push your hair over to one side or part it if it's gonna stress you out too much. And just don't put on too much makeup. Lightly, Sakura, or not at all," Ino said. "Now don't stop to think about anything else, just go, and please do not cut yourself, okay?"

"Um… okay," Sakura said, her hands fluttering as she tried to get ahold of herself.

She failed.

"I still don't think he is a good idea but, this is what you want, so…" Ino murmured. "Who knows, maybe it will work out, I don't know… just… just be careful with him."

"I'll… I'll be fine," Sakura promised. "Thanks Pig," she said, grinning cheekily as she hung up before Ino could respond.

Sasuke ended up waiting fifteen minutes, but that wasn't too terrible considering.

His look of approval when she stepped outside was far more than anything Sakura could have ever hoped for, and it did a great deal towards setting her mind at ease.

"Hi," she said shyly as she came outside.

"Hn," he responded before opening the door to his black convertible for her. "You look nice," he added when he sat beside her. The compliment made her feel like she was going to explode.

"Wh-... You know how to give compliments? Give the man a prize," she said, sounding leagues more confident than she felt.

He chuckled.

"Shut up."

* * *

 _ **Two Weeks Later…**_

 _And you know that I know_

 _You got some ways about you_

 _Your eyes hypnotize_

 _I can't get away from you_

 _But if you think_

 _That I_

 _Have nothing up my sleeve_

 _Think again_

 _I got some ways about me too_

The very slightly husky voice of Kiri's rising star, Haku, in the flirtatious mood of his latest song 'Ways' was not what was making Sakura's heart race. Well, it was surely making the moment complete, but the cause of her current pulmonary distress was none other than her boyfriend of two months, Uchiha Sasuke.

She got the feeling that he was keeping her a bit at arm's length ever since that first night when they had gone out, but today… today he was different.

Today, he felt _close._ The way he spoke, the way he looked at her, the things he said.

She knew he didn't love her, but he was treating her like his girlfriend.

She _felt_ that. Like he had decided to actually go through with it after all, not just because she asked, but because he wanted to.

There was the slightest bit of hesitance remaining, but like Haku's song said, Sakura had some ways about her too.

He was already leaning closer to her, that wicked smirk on his lips, and Sakura decided that if she was gonna claim him, she might as well do her best.

So she fisted her hand in the front of his shirt and kissed him.

And he kissed her back.

Never mind that this was her first kiss.

Never mind that this was her first actual boyfriend.

Never mind that they hadn't so much as held hands until today.

Uchiha Sasuke kissed her back.

* * *

 _ **Six Months Later…**_

He couldn't do this.

When Itachi had asked him who he was dating, Sasuke had taken one look on his brother's haggard face and lied without even batting an eyelid.

"Just someone," he had replied. "A friend…"

They had just finished their Saturday morning run and were currently leaning against Itachi's convertible sports car in the parking lot of the park near Itachi's apartment.

Almost a year had passed, and his elder brother hadn't recovered. Itachi had moved out; had moved to the opposite side of the city, really, under the excuse that he needed to be closer to the office.

Sasuke suspected that Itachi wanted to be as far from their parents as possible. Considering the fact that he had yielded and broken up with his girlfriend, despite laying all the plans to get married, the clan hadn't made too much of a fuss about his moving outside of the clan compound - which was basically an Uchiha-filled gated community on the outskirts of Konoha City.

Knowing Itachi, he was probably working that much harder so they wouldn't have an excuse to persecute him over his living arrangements.

Never mind the fact that he had been properly dating Sakura for a few months short of a year now. There was no way he was going to tell Itachi about who he was dating or for how long or how happy they were; not when his brother looked like his world had ended.

The thing about Itachi was he looked fine when he was at work, or in front of their parents or the clan, but when he was alone or with Sasuke, his true feelings showed. Sasuke felt like nothing would hurt Itachi more than knowing that Sasuke was doing fine right now.

Sakura wasn't Hinata, and he was trying not to keep expecting her to be, but they were fine.

They had fun. _She_ loved him. A little more than he was comfortable with, considering the fact the he didn't love her back. Not the way she wanted him to, anyway, because she _was_ the person he held most dear, outside of Naruto and Itachi. He enjoyed being around her, but when she said the words, or when he saw them in her eyes… well… it made him feel a little guilty. Like he _should_ be loving her back the way she wanted him to.

There wasn't anything he could do about that, really, because his attempts to forget the person he really wanted had all ended in flaming piles of defeat.

Sakura never really demanded more from him, which he was grateful for because he didn't have more to give, but Sasuke hated seeing the disappointment in her eyes when he let her down. Especially when she told him she loved him and he couldn't bring himself to say the words back.

He was well aware of the fact that their relationship had an expiry date. It was just that he wasn't sure when it would be. Every time he had just about fooled himself that he could continue this indefinitely, he would see Hinata or hear about her or _think_ about her and his inward reaction would be so intense and painful that it would rip the lies from his heart and leave him open and bare.

Exposed to the fact that he would probably never get over her… Not that he'd even had her to begin with. To her, he was probably just a friend. She tended to give him the most bizarrely meaningful presents; something she'd done ever since they were both about five years old, and Sasuke would continuously find himself closer and closer to the point where he couldn't keep the truth about how he felt a secret.

 _Everything_ about her was perfect for him, outside of the fact that she was in love with the one person he could never beat. The way her shyness held a hidden strength that somehow complemented his hidden weaknesses. That sweet smile she turned on him… okay, on _most_ people. That soft calming kindness that made him want to only present the very best version of himself.

But he found himself frozen.

He was so afraid to upset the balance.

He would see her fairly often because they were both sort of on the fringes of each other's social lives, and he would be a suffering, wanting mess the entirety of any time he spent around her.

And it was frustrating that she only looked at Naruto.

"Sasuke?" Itachi was murmuring.

"Hn?" Sasuke answered as he looked up, his nail absently tracing the condensation on his water bottle.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke lied. He was torn and his insides felt tumultuous but he didn't feel able to share that with Itachi.

He would only sound like he was whining.

At some point he was probably going to have to break up with Sakura… He probably shouldn't let her expectations of where this could go any further.

Right?

He said and downed the rest of his water.

He couldn't look Itachi in the face as he screwed the cover back on.

"Let's go."

* * *

Almost a year had passed.

Every time Sasuke thought he had gathered the wherewithal to break up with Sakura, the impending loneliness stared back at him with enough menace to make him procrastinate.

If not Sakura, then who?

At this point, he'd be doing the same thing to anyone he dated, he'd reasoned inwardly. At least he cared for Sakura. He treated her well. He was faithful; outside of Hinata, there was no one else he could tolerate much less be attracted to past the physical.

And because he didn't want her to be taken from him like Mei was taken from Itachi… well, it was better that his family wasn't aware to begin with.

They didn't care that much about him or what he did, but they would most certainly care about who he dated. The Uchiha clan cared a great deal about who was 'brought into the family'. Sakura didn't have the emotional foundation to resist them if they objected to her eligibility.

And as much as he liked her, he wasn't prepared to invest the amount of energy he would need to. Call it cowardice, but he wasn't like Itachi… and even then, the clan had made an example of the great Uchiha prodigy.

The message had been pretty clear. And strong. Even Itachi had given in.

And so now he was calling it.

He'd been slowly creating some distance between himself and Sakura, his knowledge of their imminent breakup making it impossible for him to get any more invested than he already was. And as he has searched, he came to it that there was no right time to breakup.

Especially since he _did_ care about the consequences.

Call it selfishness, but although he was willing to relinquish his relationship with Sakura, their friendship was another story. He considered her one of his best friends. She would be disappointed that that was as far as his feelings for her could go, but she would get over him in time.

As beautiful as she was, she wouldn't lack opportunities.

Sasuke swallowed hard, his fingers gripping the coffee mug with enough force to whiten his knuckles.

They'd been together almost two years now.

He shouldn't have let it last this long.

"Sasuke," she breathed, a smile on her face as she slid into the seat across from him.

Just like there was no right time, there weren't any right words either.

Whatever he said would hurt her.

But if he even mentioned Hinata he knew she would think he either cheated or left her for someone else.

"Let's break up."

There was no right time.

There were no right words.

There was no going back.

"What?" she gasped, her fingers gripping the leather strap of her satchel.

She wouldn't have had much warning. They didn't spend much of their relationship fighting.

"I… I'm sorry, I just…" he looked to the side, feeling suddenly nauseous. "I can't give you the love you want from me."

She looked confused.

"Sasuke, what are you…?" she started, her face telling him that she had an idea what was happening but that she also desperately hoping she was wrong.

She was right.

And it was breaking his heart to do this.

His selfishness was going to be the death of him.

Because he could easily be the villain. Lie to her. Tell her it was all a game, and that she was just someone to pass the time these past eighteen months. That he was done with her now.

But he couldn't, because as desperately as she wanted to remain in _this_ relationship with him, he desperately wanted to remain in _a_ relationship with her. He couldn't really imagine a life without Sakura there, smiling at him.

But just not this way.

Not when he couldn't give her what she wanted from him.

If all she expected or needed from him was friendship, then he could give that. He _had_ been giving that.

Honestly, he'd miss all the other things they had shared outside of friendship; the sex had been amazing.

Sakura was a passionate girl, but he somehow hated to see that wasted on him; when he couldn't return it with as much… vigour and intensity.

She would forgive him someday.

Right?

She would get over him.

Right?

He was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't even aware of what he was saying.

But something made her jump to her feet, tears in her eyes and her satchel clutched to her chest. She had a shaky smile on her lips that didn't reach her eyes, and she managed a tremulous, "I understand," before running away from him.

Sasuke got to his feet, his hand outstretched to her retreating back, but he couldn't say anything.

What was there to say?

And so he just watched her leave.

* * *

 _ **Present**_

"Honestly," Sasuke murmured against the top of Hinata's head. "I thought she got over me. Shortly after that she seemed fine. I saw her on dates within three months. She seemed happy then… but now I'm not sure."

Hinata rose to sitting position and turned to face him, a frown on her face.

"Sasuke," she admonished, disappointment, but also understanding, in her grey eyes. "You can't have possibly thought it would be that easy for her."

He looked away.

"Could it be that you wrote it off in hopes?" Hinata continued. "You wanted her to get over you so badly that you convinced yourself that she had? Of course she would pretend she did, but it wouldn't be love if she had actually achieved it in that amount of time."

Sasuke heaved a sigh.

"Now she won't answer my calls. Whenever she got mad, she would answer the second call. If she was really pissed, she would answer the third. I called her five times and there was no answer, so I know I will have to find a way to meet her personally. She said…"

Sasuke paused there, still racking his brain.

What she had said… he had no recollection of that whatsoever, but if it was his birthday… If it was his birthday, then he remembered almost nothing from that night.

Heck, he didn't even remember his own wedding!

"She said…?" Hinata prompted. Sasuke faced her with solemn eyes.

"She said I kissed her on my birthday. Hon, that was five years ago, and probably five or six months after we broke up. I don't remember, but knowing Sakura, if she thought that meant I wanted her back… when she found out we got married…"

"Oh no," Hinata gasped. "Because that was the night…" she rested her palm on Sasuke's shoulder, her eyes softening. "Oh, honey," she murmured. "What are you going to do?"

"But that isn't all," Sasuke muttered. "Itachi… Itachi is dating her with intent to marry, and I don't know if that is a good idea. She would have moved from one Uchiha that didn't love her to another that is most possibly incapable. Itachi hasn't looked at another woman seriously since Mei…"

Hinata frowned.

"Maybe he sees something in her?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Knowing Itachi, he had a contract. He probably went after her with no intention of having an actual relationship with her. She will wither away if that happens, and I left her to ensure that that didn't happen," he said, his voice going deep with concern.

"Well, let's wait, and watch and see. If she is going to join the family anyway, maybe I can get closer to her… unless that will only make matters worse," Hinata sighed. "Knowing what I know now she probably wants me to go bald and die."

Sasuke gave an unwitting laugh and pulled her against his chest. He kissed her eyelids and her cheeks, his mouth spread into a wide grin.

"No one could ever wish that, not seriously anyway. You are far too beautiful and sweet for that. I don't know what I did to get you. I will dedicate my life at the altar of alcohol, for making you drunk enough to marry me," he said, semi-seriously as he stared into her eyes.

Hinata blinked with a deadpan expression.

"You are such an idiot."

* * *

 **YAY I am done with backstory and SasuSaku yayayayayayaayayay! Anyway, please share your thoughts. If anyone can point out the two specific misconceptions that I wanted to ensure were cleared in this arc, I will write them a special scene. Teehee. I hope to get out the new chapter soon, but I have major overtime this week so it might take me until next week to get something out.**

' **Pologies in advance my darlings~**


	19. 6: Hanayome-san (1)

**AN: Aaand we are back! Sorry for the delay, my lovelies. RL attacked. T_T**

 **Okay so, I had only intended to put two things, but you guys picked out things I didn't even realize I included HAHAHA! Never fear, however, the most accurate responders were: La Moonlight Lily and Mallon Schwarz.**

 **The two things I had meant were that:**

 **(1) - Itachi was greatly mistaken about how much Sakura had meant to Sasuke; and he assumed that Sasuke hadn't cared about her, which caused him to inadvertently cause Sakura even more pain. (No one claims that Uchihas are emotionally literate lolol)**

 **(2) - The reason Sasuke hadn't spoken to Itachi more about Sakura, was because the very day he meant to seek his older brother's advice, Itachi moved out without warning, from the pain of a breakup and the family pressure. When even a year afterwards Itachi hadn't recovered, Sasuke ended up not finding the right 'time' to talk to Itachi about it, so he just kinda hid it.**

 **That said, guys, congrats and please tell me in the reviews or by PM what special scene you wanna see!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Hanayome-san (1)**

* * *

The timing could not have been worse.

She had done this as a stupid, _immature_ way of … now that she tried to remember exactly _what_ she had been thinking, she was drawing a major blank.

Uchiha Mikoto-san smiled at her, but Sakura was conscious that the older woman's eyes were cataloguing her every detail.

She gave a graceful nod in response to Sakura's greeting and turned inky-black eyes to Uchiha-san.

"Itachi-chan, please explain why Sarutobi-Haruno-san was in tears," she said, her voice like soft steel.

Uchiha-san blinked.

"That is…" he began. "I am unaware."

Sakura swiped at her face, wondering how she had managed to find herself in this position.

"I'm… I'm alright, truly. I was just… _affected_ by something he said," she explained nervously, as she inwardly scrambled to find a shred of composure.

And then...

It hit her like a bolt of lightning on a clear day.

She was acting like this was _Sasuke's_ mother. Yes it was, but she wasn't in a relationship with _Sasuke._ She looked up at Uchiha-san, and his slightly raised left brow as he glanced back at her, and felt the strangest calm overtake her like a cooling wave. _She_ was the one with the upper hand here.

 _He_ had been the one to approach her.

And she wasn't in love with him.

She was meeting a business partner's mother.

That was all.

She felt her professional persona overtake her body.

"Today has been somewhat of an emotional day," she said, only slightly shakily. "Would you like to join us?"

* * *

Itachi was, for lack of a better word, shocked.

He hadn't really expected her to make such a smooth recovery.

He had seen her horror at the concept of meeting his mother dressed as she was, and the situation had not been ideal for him either. He despised when his plans were disrupted by coincidence.

He had created a plan for when and how Sakura-san was to be introduced to his family. This was not it.

And she had been crying because of something he had said, but he was not sure what had prompted that particular reaction.

But something changed mid-conversation, and now it didn't matter what her attire was; she wore her professionalism like one of the bespoke pantsuits the media claimed she was famous for.

In a matter of moments she had become… collected.

"I would," his mother replied to Sakura-san's invitation, just as flustered as Itachi was, but showing it even less than he did. "But I am headed to an appointment at the moment. We should have lunch in the not so distant future." Sakura-san smiled and tilted her head in a manner very similar to the one his mother had utilized at the beginning of this conversation.

Itachi knew his mother, and her apparent lack of response to what was potentially the biggest news in the clan currently most certainly hid a myriad of calculations and plans.

"Itachi," she said, casting a telling glance in his direction. 'We will talk,' her eyes said.

"Hn. Mother," Itachi responded, dipping his head in agreement. He gave her a telling glance of his own. 'Please allow me to take responsibility in my own time.'

"Mmm," she acquiesced. "Sarutobi-Haruno-san," she said, before offering a calm smile and turning. Her assistant, whom Itachi had barely even noticed was present, bowed at them both before following behind his mother.

Sakura-san retook her seat and Itachi watched as she returned to the Sakura he was starting to know. She tucked her hair behind her ears and reached for her water.

Itachi smiled.

He had a feeling she would be fine.

The way she had handled that was in sharp contrast to a more painful meeting from the past. He shut his mind to the memory and forced his thoughts to stay in the present.

* * *

"So have you heard from Sakura?" Ino's lover asked as she stretched over him to reach her phone. He placed a proprietary hand on the soft skin of her bare back and pressed her down onto his warm chest.

"Yes," Ino giggled, dropping a kiss on his eyelid and wriggling over a bit so she could curl into his side. She looped her leg over one of his.

"And?" he prompted. "If you think I am in this relationship with you because I love you, you are mistaken. I only want details on your best friend's love life or lack thereof," he growled playfully, ruffling her already mussed hair with a large, tanned hand.

"Idiot," Ino chuckled. "In any case, she seems to be holding up well. She's met the mother, albeit by chance, but she said she managed alright. Oh, apparently, they're going to be going on dates together before they decide on anything too final."

"That's a good idea," her lover agreed. "I can never understand how people in… some circles take the marriage contract thing. If two people are going to live together in relative harmony, then they should know something about each other, right?"

"Mmm," Ino agreed. "Well, enough about Sakura," she continued. "Don't you think we should talk about us?"

Her lover stiffened, but only very slightly.

"What about us?" he asked, raising a dark brow. His equally dark eyes were suddenly more mysterious than when she'd initially met him.

"Well, our relationship. Shouldn't we start making more definitive plans for the future?" Ino asked. He glanced away from her.

"Babe, you know my situation… I can't easily make plans for our future, much less _definitive_ plans. I'm not-"

"But I feel like I am in limbo," Ino declared, sitting up and turning around to face him. His gaze slipped from her face and lingered at her bare chest. "Oi," Ino snapped, catching his chin with her index finger and forcibly raising it until his eyes met hers again.

He smirked lazily up at her and wound his arm around her waist, pulling her back down against his warm body.

"Aah, you're so troublesome, you know that? Is this because of Sakura? Because she might get married soon? She won't leave you behind, you know. You are pretty much her right leg at this point. I don't know how firmly she can stand without you," he murmured, pressing drugging kisses to her lips. Ino wrapped her leg around his waist, falling prey to his tactics.

"If you think I have forgotten about this, you are wrong. I hate how distracting you are sometimes," Ino growled against his lips.

When she woke up hours later, she was alone.

* * *

Ino was visibly distracted.

She wasn't hearing a single thing Sakura was saying, and right now she needed her best friends full attention.

" _Ino_ ," Sakura stressed. "Are you there?"

"Mmm," Ino murmured, pushing her straw back and forth inside her now half-melted smoothie with her index finger. Sakura waved her hand back and forth before Ino's half-glazed eyes and sighed when her friend failed to respond.

"Fine. What's going on? Since somehow your perfect life trumps my completely derailed one today," she murmured, resting her hand on Ino's. Ino _never_ got this distracted when discussing Sakura's numerous issues. So for her to be like this today of all days must mean she was going through something.

Ino glanced up then and smiled. It was a deceptively genuine-looking smile, but Sakura wasn't fooled.

Not by a long shot.

"I'm fine. It's all good, I just… I was just distracted." She took a sip of her smoothie, grimaced, and set it aside. "Now, where were we?" she asked, her bright blue eyes pinned on Sakura.

Sakura faltered.

"What's really going on? You're never like this," she said after a moment, sucking the last of her smoothie out of the cup. She was legitimately worried about Ino at this point.

"I'm fine," Ino chuckled, waving away her concern with a perfectly manicured hand. "You were telling me your plans." Sakura nibbled her lip. Ten chances to one, whatever was bothering Ino would come out at some point, but she felt a bit bad to talk about her Uchiha issues now.

"Come on. Out with it," Ino prompted.

"Well… I was wondering how much effort I should be putting into this. It's not like I _like_ him, or that he likes me."

"Do what makes you comfortable. That's what you're getting out of this, isn't it? A place you can be comfortable?" Ino murmured, still sounding very slightly distracted. Sakura nibbled her lower lip.

"Yes, but…"

"But nothing," Ino returned. "Just be you, and do things that let you get to know him a little bit better. No need to over-exert yourself." Sakura nodded at her friend's words, but she was still unsure.

She would see what happened.

They had already done the 'talk at a nice restaurant' thing, and quite frankly Sakura was coming up blank as to what to do for a date with someone she wasn't supposed to need to impress.

It turned out that her worries were for naught.

Uchiha Itachi called her the very next day with something that put the entire thing into perspective.

"I have a trusted connection that is willing to assist us. She is a publicist," he said after their customary greetings.

"A publicist?" Sakura repeated, one eyebrow raised and her hand slowing as she stirred her coffee.

"Yes. More than anything, these dates will help the public think that this is natural. As much as my family is used to the idea of arranged unions, our stakeholders and the general public aren't. It will… damage our image, so the best thing would be to portray a mutually beneficial situation," he explained.

So they were to look as if they were in love.

She agreed.

As much as she was marrying for escape, it had even been a part of her terms that they look the part of a happy couple. The fact that this desire lined up with his actual needs was perfect for her.

"You will not need to worry about the dates. They will all be planned… unless you already had something in mind," he continued.

"Ah, no, not at all," Sakura said quickly. "When do we meet?"

They made arrangements to meet in two days time.

* * *

He hadn't really run any of this by Shisui.

His cousin was even more elusive than usual these days, and it was starting to bother Itachi. Quite frankly, he missed his older cousin. Shisui always seemed to be busy, or tired, or in the company of someone these days, and Itachi felt a bit like a bother.

He didn't really have anyone else he could talk to about this.

He couldn't broach this subject with Sasuke, especially not after how everything had gone down that night. He still hadn't really managed to have a conversation with his little brother.

He refilled his glass of wine as he gazed out at the Konoha city lights and was forced to face the fact that he was lonely.

As much as he didn't expect it, and he could inwardly appreciate that he had accepted this somewhat grudgingly, he had experienced a connection with Haruno Sakura. That connection only served to point out that the solace he found in the silence at home had cleverly concealed an underlying loneliness.

One he hadn't allowed himself to feel ever since…

He took a sip of wine to interrupt the thought.

But he couldn't stop her face from showing up in his mind.

Takabana Mei.

He missed her, even now.

He missed connecting with someone that way. Looking into someone's eyes and knowing their thoughts. It had been a blessing in the beginning, but had darkened into a curse towards the end.

Knowing someone's joy was a beautiful thing, but looking into their eyes and seeing that they would rather be anywhere else but with you was excruciating. He had watched her fall out of love with him.

On the one hand, he could have discarded his birthright, his inheritance, to be with her.

It was equally devastating to realize that he hadn't loved her that much. He had loved her just enough to damage them both. Just enough so that it shredded his soul to part from her. But not enough that he would leave everything behind to be with her.

He'd told himself back then that he just wasn't built that way.

He wasn't the type to discard his responsibilities, or the type to shame his family the way he would have if he had left them for her. He would have been disowned.

And he had always somehow resented Shisui for having that freedom. As much as he loved his cousin, there was always a niggling voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that Shisui could and would somehow discard him for something he wanted more. If Shisui could have left their family like that to pursue music, what would he be capable of doing if he met someone he loved?

Itachi already saw it, in moments like these, when his cousin was simply too busy living life to talk to him.

His mood souring, Itachi downed the rest of his wine and made his way downstairs to work out his growing frustration in his gym.

* * *

This was Uchiha-san's personal _friend?_

In Sakura's eyes, she was more of a supermodel than anything else. Tall, thin and stunning, Haruka Suri looked like she would do better _in_ the public eye than anything else. Her smile was blinding and white when she reached out a pale hand to shake Sakura's in a surprisingly firm handshake.

Foreign manners.

Sakura followed through with a bit of an awkward bow in any case as she returned the greeting.

"Oh, you two are going to look stunning together in photographs," Haruka-san said, her voice low and husky. She probably smoked. But her voice was still very feminine, in a cultured, mature way. Sakura felt a bit transparent and muted next to her.

Sakura thanked her for the compliment, her eyes darting back and forth between Haruka-san and Uchiha-san to see if there was any evidence of them being attracted to each other. They would be an ungodly beautiful pair if they were ever together.

Both of them so dark and perfect.

"Have a seat, please," Haruka-san said cheerfully, ushering Sakura towards the large white sofa in her equally white office. The only thing in the room that broke the white and white motif was Sakura's pink hair.

She sat, and sucked in a breath.

"Okay, so Itachi has told me a bit more about your plans and needs, and I have gone ahead and drafted up some preliminary ideas," she said without wasting any time.

"It's a list of some events that it would benefit you to attend in the following month," she said, handing Uchiha-san her tablet so they could see. Sakura caught a whiff of Uchiha-san's expensive, masculine scent as she leaned over to have a look.

Haruka-san looked at her and chuckled a little before continuing.

"You will have to look a bit more attracted, even. People don't get warm and fuzzy feelings for arranged marriages. Not in this day and age. Not ever. You can start by sitting a bit closer. An eighteen-wheeler could pass between the two of you right now," she said.

Sakura felt her face flush a bit and she scooted a little closer to Uchiha-san. He blinked, seemingly absorbed Haruka-san's words and shifted closer to her as well, turning his attention back to the tablet when his thigh was just about brushing Sakura's.

"This looks good, however, I think we might have a conflict," he said as she scrolled through the calendar.

"Oh?" the publicist murmured, coming around to look.

"Yes, I believe Sakura-san has an event on this weekend," he said. Sakura's gaze snapped up to his face.

He knew about that?

"Ah, yes, I believe I saw that on her website. I meant to change it," Haruka-san said. "My apologies."

Sakura knew she should be doing more. Saying more. Being more proactive. But she felt so at sea right now. And the list.

Uchiha-san must have told Haruka-san about the number of events they had agreed on, because there were six events to take place in the following three weeks.

There was an appearance on the cooking show 'My Taste', the Annual Konoha Music and Film Awards, the Taibachi for Pediatric Cancer Charity Benefit, a star-studded summer party in Suna, as well as two 'regular' dates in the city.

"On My Taste, I will arrange for you to be partners. It is okay to let people know that you have met before, and any chemistry you show here will be advantageous. Following that up by appearing together at the KMFA will ignite the press, and they will follow you around after that. I would suggest that you leave your schedules open for a few interviews, etc. Even though you two aren't celebrities in the league of musicians or actors, you still have a following. And before you deny, I have seen your social media," Haruka-san said.

She went on to suggest that they wait until during and after the cooking show to start posting pictures with each other on their social networking sites. They were to follow each other on Gakupikku and Leafnet after the show as well.

"So it will look like a whirlwind romance," Sakura mused.

"Exactly. I know Itachi has some time constraints, but hopefully knowing that something is in the works will make it easier for the clan to swallow. Now, before we proceed, I have to warn you. The press can be very invasive. Is there anything in your pasts that will be a problem if it gets out?" Haruka-san asked.

Sakura hesitated.

"Well… I used to be in love with Uchiha-san's little brother… in college," she said. That was her most pressing concern. Her other youthful escapades had already made it to gossip rags, and in those she was always accompanied by Ino. That would be old news.

"Ah. That might make things a bit uncomfortable in the beginning, but I do have an idea of how to spin it…"

"There is no need," Uchiha-san said then. "I will ensure that she is protected from harmful speculation."

For the second time in under thirty minutes, Sakura's gaze snapped to Uchiha-san's face.

It was inevitable that people would mark her move from Uchiha Sasuke to his older brother as a 'second best' situation. That she chose him because she couldn't manage to keep Sasuke.

How did he propose to shield her from that?

* * *

 **And there you have it.**

 **Once again, apologies for the delay~!**

 **I am really looking forward to the reviews! If you guys like those events that Haruka-san laid out, let me know. Also, based on the types of events, please do share some scene ideas you would love to see. I can't promise to use all of them, but I would love you input (as usual)!**

 **Until next time, my lovelies!**


	20. 6: Hanayome-san (2)

**I haven't kicked the bucket just yet… Here we go!**

 **Just thought I would hop right into the thick of things really…**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Hanayome-san (2)**

* * *

 **Previously…**

 _ **Sakura meets Itachi's mother. Itachi and Sakura visit a publicist, and Itachi's friend, Haruka Suri, for her advice on how to handle their situation. Suri slots them in for an appearance on My Taste, a popular cooking show, as well as some other public events.**_

Uchiha Itachi was struggling.

He was struggling to think, struggling to move, struggling to breathe.

How was it that only such a short time had elapsed but he was this affected by Haruno Sakura? This was supposed to be a cut and dry, somewhat amicable, but certainly not passionate contract relationship. Still, as Sakura's lips closed around his index finger, and her soft, warm tongue wiped the sauce off his fingertip, Itachi was painfully aware that this likely would not remain the case for much longer.

Hn...

He was caught between wanting to yank his finger away from her and wanting her mouth to stay wrapped around the appendage forever. She released his wrist, which she had commandeered in order to dip his finger into the sauce he'd been making just moments ago.

"Mmm," she said, her green eyes sparkling as she nodded. "That is _really_ good. Maybe add some pepper flakes to give it a bit of a kick, but _wow_!" she exclaimed.

Itachi managed a minuscule nod in response. He wanted to thank her, he really did, but his voice was not functioning as it should. Instead, he turned back to his sauce, fully aware that the pleasure he was feeling because she liked it was unreasonably potent.

"Based on that smile alone, Uchiha-san, one would think there is more than food cooking in this kitchen," Urahara Ken murmured next to Itachi's ear, a knowing smile on his wide lips. A smile he directed at the camera. Itachi looked up, shocked out of his daze, and instinctively struggled to recover.

"Nonsense," he said, turning his gaze resolutely to the sauce, which he stirred with unneeded vigour. His body felt like its connection to the control tower had been severed, and now it was doing whatever the hell it wanted to do. He was not a teenager, this was not his first romantic experience - this was not _even_ a romantic experience - so there was no reason for his senses to be going haywire.

However, he was struggling.

When he couldn't see her out of the corner of his eye as they bustled to complete the meal they were making, he could _feel_ her presence.

When he could see her, if even just a glimpse in his peripheral vision, she distracted him almost completely. It was as if seeing this version of her - her hair up in a ponytail, an apron around her slim waist, and her obvious joy in doing something _so_ very domestic - had amplified whatever lingering, _prowling_ feelings had been growing inside him since they had met.

He sucked in a deep, shuddering breath that seemed to exit his body as quickly as it came in, leaving him feeling twice as breathless as before.

And then there was the pain.

Itachi hissed softly and refocused a gaze that he hadn't even realized had trailed over to a smiling Sakura - who had been talking to the cameras about the meat she was marinating. His thumb was bleeding.

His knife clattered onto the counter as he released it, and he jerked his hand away from the ginger he'd been dicing. But he didn't have time to make it to the sink before Sakura ran over, gasping in dismay.

"Itachi-san," she chided, her warm fingers wrapping around his wrist again, and her thumb pressing into the centre of his palm as she held his hand up for inspection. "When I said dice a thumb of ginger I didn't mean _your_ thumb," she muttered, her brows pulling together in the centre of his forehead.

And then, once again, her lips were wrapped around his fingertip.

And Itachi was still struggling.

She, however, seemed completely unperturbed, and she pulled her mouth away from his hand long enough to tell the cameraman and Urahara-san - who had both run over - that it was scientifically proven that saliva helped to heal wounds. Something about a naturally-occurring compound that it contained.

"I discovered it while doing research for one of my novels," she explained, and then dragged Itachi over to the sink to rinse away the blood that trailed down from his wounded thumb.

"Are you alright?" she asked, patting his hand dry.

Honestly, no.

He was not alright, and he probably never would be at this rate. He needed her to cease touching him so familiarly, but he _liked it_ more than he hated it, so he wasn't exactly doing anything to stop it. He managed a nod and hoped that his easily read expressions weren't currently being noted by the studio audience and whoever decided to watch the show after it was broadcast.

That thought alone was sobering and he pulled his hand away from Sakura.

"I'm fine. Thank you. Is there a first-aid kit?" he asked, directing the question at Urahara-san.

"Yes," Urahara replied, gesturing at a staff member who was currently running onto the set with a white kit in hand.

A few minutes later, after applying an antibacterial ointment to his thumb, bandaging it and assuring the staff that he was okay to continue, Itachi was back to cooking. He was determined to be focused this time. He still intended to win the round, after all. It would be a bit much if they lost.

If he lost in front of her.

"How's the salad coming on?" Sakura asked as she approached him and placed a hand in the centre of his back as she leaned over to inspect his handiwork. It felt like her hand was going to burn a hole into him. As if all the senses that he had in his body were focused on one spot alone.

"Have a bite and see…" he responded, handing her a clean pair of chopsticks so that she could sample the Asian-style cucumber salad he'd been working on.

"Oishii!" Sakura exclaimed, looking up at him in shock. "It's so refreshing. With a bit of spice as well," she gushed, sectioning away some more so she could have another taste. "Oh, this will be perfect with the chicken we made. Whatever gave you the idea to do this?"

Itachi could not resist a smile at her obvious pleasure.

"It's my version of something my mother used to make for me. My little brother always ate all the tomatoes, so she would make this for me instead," he explained with a small chuckle.

"Many thanks to your brother," Sakura murmured with laughter in her eyes. He could tell she knew _just_ what she meant about Sasuke's legendary love of tomatoes. One could say that Sasuke's love of tomatoes had single-handedly put them in this position because if Hinata had never given him tomato seeds, Sasuke would have probably never confessed to her. Then Sakura would probably not be single right now, and he almost certainly would not be in a contract relationship with her.

So yes.

Itachi allowed himself to be grateful to Sasuke and his love of tomatoes. But admittedly for more than this salad which was giving Sakura such pleasure at this moment. He glanced at her as she continued chattering beside him, completely unaware of the smile on his lips.

* * *

"Okay so, the next thing we're supposed to do is the picture for Leafnet, right? Something friendly, she said..." Sakura murmured, shuffling closer to him as they sat backstage awaiting the results and trying to hide a sudden bit of nervousness. Itachi-san had been distant and distracted the entire time, and as much as Urahara-san tried to insinuate that his dazedness was because of Sakura, she knew that as much as that was true, it wasn't the way they thought.

It was her fault because he was away from work, and he was distracted because he was a busy man, and this particular exercise would probably have no positive bearing on his day, apart from some degree of positive publicity.

He glanced down at her but didn't respond, choosing instead to obligingly lean closer to her so she could get them both in the picture. He even mirrored her peace sign and offered a small smile that completely elevated his appearance. Somehow, his smile surprised Sakura to the point that she momentarily forgot her nervousness.

"Let's try something cuter," she suggested, moving closer still and swiping between the filters on her phone. She settled on a pink-hued one with bunny ears and whiskers, and then she puffed up her cheeks as she took the picture. In the resulting image, he was looking at her, obviously amused, and because his head was turned, she was the only one with the bunny ears.

It was still really cute, though, and Sakura sent them to him.

She posted hers immediately in a gallery style and tagged him with the caption:

' _Backstage mytastekonoha with uchihaitachi. Nice to meet you \\(^_^)/ #newfriends ❤ #foodies'_

Itachi opened his Leafnet with the intention of doing the same, then realized her filters would not suit the theme of his pictures. He frowned for a moment then put his hand on her opposite shoulder and pulled her closer.

"We will have to take another," he said softly in explanation. Sakura swallowed a Konoha-sized lump and nodded. He used a more solemn filter that deepened and then muted some of the colours. His face still had a pleasant aura, but unlike with her picture, he didn't really smile. He took a few snaps and Sakura tried to mimic his expression, but ultimately, she didn't like her face when she wasn't smiling, so she convinced him to take another.

She closed one eye and smiled, but not as widely as she would on her profile.

The result was a cute but somewhat more mature looking photo. Apparently, he liked that one more as well because he wordlessly posted it.

' _Very nice to meet you sakkuchan. mytastekonoha was fun.'_

He added a few food emojis and a thumbs up emoji.

"That should be good enough, right?" Sakura murmured, putting some space between them.

"Suri will let us know if it isn't," Itachi returned noncommittally.

A few hours later, Sakura realized her worries were for nothing. The picture she had taken with Uchiha Itachi was already the most popular one on her page… and in just a few hours.

The question on everyone's minds?

'Are you two dating?'

* * *

Sakura pulled off her top and tossed it onto the single seated sofa in her bedroom.

She was so tired.

This whole charade was a bit exhausting. She hadn't seen or heard from Sasuke since their confrontation, or lack thereof, and each time she declined his call, she felt a little bit more lifeless.

"Are you ever going to talk to me again?" a familiar voice murmured from the darkness of her room. Sakura whirled around in shock.

"Sasuke?" she gasped. However, she couldn't see him. "Sasuke, what are you doing here?" she asked, her heart racing. She didn't know what particular reason was causing her palpitations, but some of them she would rather not identify.

Warm, _familiar_ hands cupped her shoulders from behind, and she smelled that spicy scent that could be no one other than _Sasuke._ His chest brushed up against her back and his hands trailed gently down her arms and then slipped around her waist in that way he knew she _loved._

"What are you doing?" she asked, but she didn't try to break free of his embrace.

"You know what I'm doing," he murmured, his voice softening in the way he knew would make her _melt._ The side of his chin brushed her temple as he pulled her closer.

He turned her in his arms.

His eyes were as dark as sin.

He brushed his lips against hers, with no warning.

"What about-" Sakura began, feeling as if she was being whisked away in the current of overwhelming rapids. She couldn't breathe, much less move. Like she had no control over anything.

"I was wrong. I was scared. I love you," he breathed, pulling her arms over his shoulders and dipping his mouth to hers again.

And Sakura sank.

"Is this what you did with my brother?" Husky breath became silken mist against her lips when the kiss broke.

"Wh-" Sakura started, still floundering below the surface of arousal and confusion. Her gaze snapped upwards to meet judgemental obsidian orbs.

Uchiha Itachi?

What the hell?

"What…?" Sakura woke with a gasp, surging upwards into sitting position.

She felt nauseous. Her heart was still thundering in her chest.

What the hell had that dream been?

Her mouth was dry as bone. She was used to dreaming about Sasuke, but this was new. This was very new and weird and she didn't like it. Unable to return to sleep, Sakura reached for her phone.

There was a message from Sasuke, linked to the LN picture of her and Itachi.

 _Sakura. Talk to me. Is this really what you want?_

She didn't know.

Of course, she didn't know.

But she knew that she didn't want the alternative either. Objectively, she knew that her budding relationship with Uchiha Itachi was not founded in healthy reasons, but maybe the result would be an improvement on her current situation.

Dreaming thirstily about a man who had no such inclinations toward her.

And what if that hadn't been a dream? After everything, she would just sink into him? It hasn't been real, but her reaction in the dream terrified her. What would she have to do to get over him? Why was he still lingering in her mind?

The way he had broken up with her…

He hadn't left any room at all for hope. But still, she had clung to something deep inside. Something she'd thought was dormant until that kiss on his birthday. It had bloomed in full force. That night had made her so happy and hopeful that she had tossed and turned and squealed in her bed all night.

She'd stared at her phone all weekend, wanting him to make the first move. To clarify. To say it. To say that he wanted her back.

The next time she had seen him, he had already been married.

She had never recovered. She still hadn't, if that dream was any indication.

She stared at the message he'd sent her and felt a sharp pain sear through her head.

 _Fine. I'm talking to you. What?_ she texted back. The fact that the message was read immediately pleased her even though she knew it shouldn't. She shouldn't even care. She didn't want to care.

 _I'm sorry. About everything._

Sakura scowled.

 _And I am supposed to just forgive you and move on?_ Sakura typed furiously.

 _Can I call you?_

 _So you can conveniently forget what you said?_ she answered saltily. Sakura glowered at her phone, rolling her eyes in annoyance when the 'typing…' blurb came up on her screen. It stopped and started for about ten minutes before a message popped up.

Not even in Sakura's wildest dreams would she have expected what he sent next.

 _Honestly… I don't remember anything much about that night. Not even my wedding._

He had to be lying. An incredulous laugh sputtered from Sakura's lips.

This could not be real.

* * *

 **Okay so. I'm trying my best to keep these stories going. Your patience humbled me tbh~ Thank you guys for still being here! Please review~~**


	21. 6: Hanayome-san (3)

**Onwards! Your reviews make me so happy! Please continue to let me know in the reviews and in PMs what scenes you are looking forward to seeing!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Hanayome-san (3)**

* * *

Sakura stirred her iced coffee absently, vaguely hearing the clink of the ice cubes against the glass. Her mind was very far away, still reeling.

Sasuke didn't remember his own wedding.

He couldn't remember the event where he married Hinata, who was supposedly the woman of his dreams. The love of his life. The Apple of his eye. The reason he drew breath. Okay, so even she could recognize her own saltiness.

She took a sip of the coffee, her lips tilting around the straw in a strangely pleased smile.

Suddenly, his forgotten kiss with Sakura didn't seem quite as bad. If he couldn't even remember his own wedding it was a wonder he'd been allowed to get married at all. He must have been beyond stoned.

But then again, Sasuke had an annoying characteristic of never appearing as drunk as he was.

Which was why Sakura had been so shaken by his failure to remember their kiss. Now it seemed that it wasn't so much that it hadn't meant anything to him and more that he hadn't been coherent at all, to begin with. That small bit of information changed so much for Sakura.

It was as if an invisible weight that had been hanging off of her had been lifted; somewhat, if not completely. Still, the relief was palpable.

It hadn't been that _she_ had been forgettable.

That made a very big difference. It… _changed_ things. Not completely, of course, but enough to make a difference. Obviously, the pain was still there, but it was muted. It was easier now to set her feelings about it to the side. Perhaps the conversation with Sasuke had given her some level of comfort - enough that she had agreed to meet her old flame to hopefully get some closure.

"You're early," he said as he sat across from her. She'd decided to meet him for coffee, maybe because in her mind, that was the safest location.

"You despise my internal struggle over the menu," Sakura returned, pulling off a piece of her pastry and popping it into her mouth. "I decided I couldn't deal with your whining, or has your having kids changed that?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned back against the bench, eyeing her contemplatively.

"I'm glad you decided to talk to me again," he started, somewhat awkwardly, as if he had just stepped off a conversational boat and hadn't found his land legs just yet.

"Tell me more about how you managed to forget your own wedding," Sakura cut in ruthlessly. She didn't care how mercenary she sounded; it was just that knowing she hadn't been the only thing forgotten made her feel a bit better. But her insides still quivered at his presence. Her heart still raced.

Gods.

Knowing that the whole kiss thing hadn't been what she thought it was made the hatred she had started to foster dissipate a little. And scarily placed her in a weird position where she almost liked him again…?

"You're really impatient, you know that?" Sasuke muttered, his fingers tapping lightly against the edge of the table. Sakura tried not to think about those fingers and what they used to do, and subsequently failed. She took another sip of her coffee in an attempt to distract herself and therefore not have the direction of her thoughts be blatantly obvious.

"And you're a dick, what of it?" Sakura snapped back, not in the mood to face any criticism from him of all people. He glanced to the side and sighed.

"Well I suppose you don't need to know from when, and how, and why I love Hinata, so I will skip to the part about you. I really truly enjoyed being around you. I _enjoy_ being around you. Back then, I really wasn't managing, what with my family situation and also not being able to express how I felt about her… because I knew she would turn me down. I knew I wouldn't even get a chance because she felt about Naruto the way I felt for her. I was a coward, I know, but even she admitted it. If I had asked her out, I would have been turned down without much of a consideration because she simply was not interested in me. Just hearing the words from her would have crushed me, so I never did approach her. I couldn't bear it," Sasuke explained, his eyes pinned to the table and his countenance falling as he remembered how he had felt seven years ago.

"But then, why date me when you were so in love with her?" Sakura asked. "Why date me when you could never fully love me? When all in your heart and mind was her?" Sasuke gave her a deadpan expression in return.

"Really, Sakura? So because I loved someone that very obviously didn't love me back I should have just been single forever? You were the only person I met that I thought had a solid chance of making me move on. I sincerely thought that if it was you, then maybe… I mean, I loved being with you. Maybe you spoiled me, but we rarely fought, we always had a good time together and I never felt like you were being fake with me. I just couldn't stand staying the more obvious it became that no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't give you what you deserved," Sasuke said.

This was the first time Sakura had ever heard him speak so much at a time. It felt weird.

"I'm sorry I broke up with you the way I did. I really am, but I had given up and I didn't know what to do. I just knew that I couldn't do it anymore. I hated not being able to say the words you wanted to hear." He leaned in, his eyes earnest. "I really hope you understand that in a different way, I _did_ love you and that was why I had to leave you. As cliche as it sounds, you deserve much better than me."

Sakura didn't know how to answer that.

What the hell was she supposed to say anyway?

"Well, what about that night?"

Sasuke's cheeks reddened and he looked away from her.

"Well… I didn't mean to confess to her… but it just slipped out. She gave me tomato seed for my birthday and the words just came out. And she turned me down almost immediately. It was everything I had ever feared and worse. She tried to be so nice about it that I ended up feeling even more pathetic than I thought possible. And after that, the whole night went to shit. I only remember about an hour or so of the events after that, because I got really drunk really fast. When I woke up, she was in bed with me. Neither of us remembers that night. Apparently, she got rejected too," Sasuke said with a wry chuckle.

"So it all worked out for you in the end," Sakura interjected, a bit saltily. Why couldn't he have drunkenly married her instead? But the purpose of this conversation was to banish thoughts like that, so Sakura inwardly slapped herself across the face. She needed to get ahold of herself.

Still, as Sasuke spoke, she found herself wondering what kind of hell would have ensued should that have happened.

She would never have his full heart, and as much as he was saying he loved her, she could hear the burning 'as a friend' that followed silently. After everything she had done and after everything they had been through, that was the most she had been able to amount to for him.

"But… normally I wouldn't interfere but this time I have to ask. What is this with you and Itachi?"

And there it was. The burning question.

But after hearing about his amazing love, though not in so many words, Sakura was completely unwilling to be honest about exactly what she and Uchiha Itachi were.

So she went with the vaguer option.

"He asked me out. I accepted. We're dating."

Her answer was very obviously lacking for Sasuke. He sucked in his cheeks, contemplating for a moment before speaking.

"Itachi is… well, he is in love with someone else. He has been for a while and-"

She didn't need to hear this.

"This doesn't sound like something you should be telling me. Thank you for your concern, but stay out of it. We're adults and we will handle it how we see fit," Sakura said with a saccharine smile. Sasuke winced and raided his palms, but it was obvious that he wanted to say more.

"Sakura," he began again, leaning forward with his brows furrowed. "You must know I want the best for you, but-"

"Sasuke, just stop. He makes me happy. We are fine. Do not interfere," she snapped firmly. Sasuke pulled in a breath through his teeth, obviously dissatisfied. "You don't have the right to tell me who I can and can't meet… Not anymore," she added quietly. He pulled in another frustrated breath and sucked in his cheeks as he attempted to refrain from saying something that was on his mind.

But what he said stuck in Sakura's head.

And an annoyingly heavy feeling settled in her stomach.

Had she literally jumped from one unavailable brother to the other?

Was she actually hoping for love? Because from the outset it has been made clear that neither party was supposedly interested in romance. Why then did the notion now fill her with unease?

* * *

He couldn't stop thinking about her.

It was ridiculous.

Itachi sucked in a breath as he fastened the clasp on his watch. Tonight's event was the Konoha Music and Film Awards. There would be a lot of cameras and exposure tonight, and even though neither he nor Sakura was mainstream celebrities, she was a popular author whose novel would soon become a highly-anticipated movie and he was the heir to one of the most affluent clans in the world. The Uchiha had sponsored many films and artists.

They classified as 'public figures'.

They would be noticed.

In fact, their arrival together would most likely spark theories across the internet. They had the makings of a power couple.

But he was uncharacteristically nervous tonight.

This was admittedly more excitement than he was used to. Sure, he was no stranger to such events, but usually, there was nothing to the stories and speculations about who he was accompanied by.

This time, there was.

A very big story at that.

And to make matters even worse? Although he couldn't claim to know much about her, it was safe to say that he _liked_ Haruno Sakura.

Genuinely.

He liked how unpretentious she was. Her love of food was adorable. The way her eyes sparkled… it made whatever they ate more enjoyable and it made him want to _try_ things.

He released the breath with a rush of air and gave himself a once-over before heading outside where his driver was waiting. Sitting in the silent limo alone, Itachi found himself taking numerous deep breaths.

What was this?

He hadn't felt this particular feeling in-

The thought was like a bucket of ice-cold water. He couldn't go through that again. He rapidly realigned his thoughts.

This was his first time going to Sakura-san's house so Itachi found himself eyeing the passing suburban scenery and mentally logging various landmarks. The car finally came to a stop, it was in front of a sprawling townhouse.

Did she live there alone?

He opened his phone and called her.

"Mm'lo?" she answered, sounding distracted. Itachi felt a smile tilt his lips. She always sounded distracted when he called her.

"It's Uchiha Itachi. I should have called earlier, but I am outside now."

"Ah, Uchiha-san! I'm almost ready. I'm in the middle of getting my makeup done. I will be out in fifteen minutes. Would you like to wait inside? I can have Ariko make you a drink," she suggested.

"That sounds acceptable," he responded, motioning to his driver that he was going to go inside. "We are well within time," he assured her.

"It can't hurt to be fashionably late. We will catch the exciting part of the red carpet," she chuckled. "I will be done soon so…"

She wanted to hang up.

Ah.

"Ah. Yes," Itachi returned as he made the short journey up the front steps. He was let inside by a stoic female butler before he could even ring the doorbell.

"Please call me Ariko," she said after a customary welcome. "Please, let me show you to the den where I will prepare a drink while you wait."

Itachi gave her a curt nod and followed her.

The 'den' was actually a cosy room that was slightly to the side of the room at the foot of the main staircase. Although it was off-centred, it had an unimpeded view of the staircase. He was fairly relaxed and was fully enjoying the exquisite drink Ariko had prepared when he heard sounds coming from the top of the stairs.

He looked up in time to see Haruno Sakura making her descent.

She looked exquisite.

Her pink hair was braided into a luscious wispy crown which was lightly studded with small pearls and left artfully curled tendrils to frame her face. Dark, shadowy makeup around her eyes accentuated her green irises to a shocking intensity. Her lips were glossed in a translucent gloss that differed vastly from the more popular matte lip.

And her dress.

A slimming, deceptively simple asymmetrically cut black gown that trailed the ground on one side and revealed a glorious expanse of tanned leg on the other. It covered one arm to the wrist, and exposed the other from the shoulders and neck to white-painted fingernails.

Her accessories were very light, giving her appearance an approachable, stripped back effect, right down to her natural-looking makeup.

Itachi was very pleased.

As he had opted for a classic black suit with a white shirt, their combined expensively simple attire would look even more striking as a set.

He didn't realize that he had risen to his feet until he had halved the distance between them. She smiled pleasantly at him as he approached and leaned in to brush her cheek against his for a fraction of a second in greeting.

Her scent was light and fresh and airy, and that lightness inspired the desire to lean closer again.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said demurely, taking a step back. Itachi downed the remainder of his drink.

"Not at all. I enjoyed the den and the alcohol," he returned before offering her his arm. She slid her hand over his forearm, but then stopped and looked up at him, quite obviously warring with some decision or other.

"What is it?" he asked, growing slightly concerned.

She folded the corner of one pink lip between her teeth.

"Before we go… I have something to ask you," she began, her eyes not quite meeting his.

"...Go on."

"Is it true that you are currently in love with someone else?"

The question hit him like lightning on a clear day.

For a few moments, he didn't know what to think or say. Where had this come from? He blinked slowly before answering honestly.

"I was. I don't know that I am." Then he tacked on, "Why do you ask?" She pursed her lips, looking slightly annoyed.

"Sasuke. I met him today," she said by way of explanation.

Sasuke?

Why was his little brother trying to deter Sakura from being with him? Surely he didn't think he would mistreat Sakura in any way…?

"He means well… I think," she murmured. Itachi didn't know how he felt about this particular bit of information - that Sasuke would go behind his back and try to interfere with his and Sakura's affairs. Shaking her head lightly, Sakura visibly set it out of her mind. She gave him a smile and said, "Let's just go."

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto's brows pulled together.

Sakura was dating again?

He could always tell from her social media. She was unable to help herself, and this time it was especially obvious. She had just posted a picture of her delicate, manicured hand beside a man's larger, suit-sleeved one. Both hands rested on the leather seat of a luxury car, with the edge of her kinky finger resting ever so slightly against The side of the man's hand.

The only caption was a pair-of-eyes emoji.

Hmm.

It was more obvious because he knew it was _her_ hand.

Who was this bastard?

All of Sakura's boyfriends, especially Uchiha Sasuke had been bastards. Her taste in men was pitifully terrible. This was most likely another rich playboy seeking to take advantage. Scowling, Naruto sat up in bed and scrolled through the comments, looking for a clue.

He was almost halfway down the comment listing before he saw it.

A reference to the Uchiha.

A guess, but still.

That wasn't Sasuke's hand. At least, it didn't seem to be. Naruto couldn't be sure, but he didn't think it was Sasuke's. He hoped it wasn't. He swiped over to her profile to see if there was anything more and about four pictures in, he froze.

Gaped.

Uchiha _Itachi?_

 _And Sakura?_

Impossible.

This was impossible, right?

Although Sakura and Sasuke used to date, Naruto was well aware of how and why Sasuke intentionally kept Sakura as far away from the rest of the Uchiha as possible. And after their breakup, Sakura had made an easily recognized point to avoid anything remotely Uchiha-related. Naruto knew _for sure_ that the last thing Sasuke would have done was introduce his ex-girlfriend to his emotionless older brother.

Naruto remembered the times he overheard stuff in the Uchiha house. The way they spoke about Itachi's girlfriend, the things they called her, the stunts they pulled. Itachi hadn't put up much of a defence, the times Naruto had witnessed. The most he seemed to do was disappear into the depths of his work in some attempt to be perfect, but from what Naruto had seen, he hadn't done much protecting.

A man was supposed to protect and defend. Attack if needs be.

He didn't doubt that Itachi had loved Mei. In his own messed-up Uchiha way, perhaps he had thought that his perfection would have been reason enough for his family to get off Mei's case. That was the sense that Naruto got, anyway. And obviously, there was more to the story than what he had seen.

In any case, he had been crushed after the breakup, which he had initiated, and after a period of near depression, he seemed to become even colder than he was before. Someone like that would break someone as delicate and as vibrant as Sakura.

This called for some investigation, though, as nothing seemed to have been confirmed yet.

Hmm. He would have to wait and see.

* * *

 **Glad you guys are enjoying so far! For those who haven't read The Confession yet (and those who don't plan to), I hope this chapter cleared things up a bit regarding Sasuke's memory or lack thereof. Onwards!**

 **I'm hoping to speed through the rest of their engagement period, to get to the good part - cohabitation *drool***

 **Let me know what you think of that or if you want a more detailed description of the remaining events. Those are Konoha Music and Film Awards, a Charity benefit, a summer beach party in Suna, and 2 regular dates.**

 **Let me know in the reviews~! I will wait for about 20 responses to decide!**


	22. 6: Hanayome-san (4)

**Okay, so you guys decided! Here goes!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Hanayome-san (4)**

* * *

The camera shutters clicked madly as Itachi stepped out of the black limousine. He reached into the recesses of the vehicle, offering his hand to Sakura. She slid her hand over his arm as she stepped out. She took a moment to allow the cameras to get a good angle and then squeezed his arm to indicate she was ready to move.

Their ride over from her house was made in relative silence, their conversation at her house making further dialogue awkward. An elephant had entered the room in the shadowy form of Uchiha Itachi's ex-girlfriend.

Suffice to say that after Sakura's horrendous experience with his younger brother, she wasn't sure she trusted his words. She didn't quite believe that he was over whoever his ex was. Sakura herself was in this arrangement because she was not over her own ex. It would be unfair to expect something different from Itachi-san.

However.

She had been under the impression that his reasons were not steeped in failed romance like hers was. She'd been under the impression that he'd had much colder, much more logical motives. That had been what made this okay.

But if he was the same as she was, then did it mean that they were both settling?

Shaking the thoughts from her mind for fear that they might present themselves on her face, Sakura pushed a blinding smile to her lips.

Appearances was the name of the game right now.

A red carpet reporter blocked their path. Their schedules this past week had not really allowed for a proper debriefing by Suri. Besides, Itachi-san had assured them he would handle it. But he was hardly an emotive person, and his words were even sparser than his emotions. Seeing the predatory smile on the reporter's lips, Sakura was not so sure.

"Now if this isn't the appearance of a power couple, I don't know what is. Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, you fit right in with the performers tonight," she said, shoving a microphone at Sakura.

"Thank you," Sakura murmured as gracefully as she could manage, not relinquishing her grasp on Itachi-san's arm.

"I gotta ask," the reporter preambled, glancing back and forth suggestively between Itachi-san and Sakura. "Do I sense some sparks here?"

Instinctively, Sakura demurred.

"Ehheyyy. It's not like that…" she ended up saying before remembering she was supposed to say the opposite.

Then she heard Itachi-san's smooth voice.

"Maybe you can speak it into being," he said softly, slowly, the words clearly enunciated and impossible to misconstrue. Sakura looked up at him sharply, only to meet his dark eyes and notice that his words had been accompanied by an annoyingly charming tilt of his lips.

Unbidden, her cheeks warmed, and she looked away just as sharply as she had turned to him.

Damn it, but he could be charming in his own way!

The reporter tittered, gears visibly turning in her head. She looked like she had just hit jackpot. There would no doubt be countless articles about them in a few hours. They had definitely caught a decent amount of attention.

It was getting more and more difficult to back out. This arrangement seemed to be growing more secure with every passing minute, and not for the life of her could Sakura decide on how exactly she felt about it.

* * *

A few nights later, Itachi came home from work, his mind still on the award show.

The event had been exhausting.

Even though they had not been the key celebrities in attendance by any stretch, the amount of attention they had garnered had been staggering.

Itachi's LN account had exploded with literally thousands of new followers. Based on the usernames, he assumed they were Sakura's fans. Turning his phone on silent, Itachi tugged at the collar of his shirt, loosening it as he made his way to the balcony.

His spot.

Much like when he was pursuing an important merger, this marriage business was consuming his attention. It always seemed to be on the fringes of his mind. His mind would run on his intended wife countless times per day, but it was weird.

Because he wasn't in love with her, thoughts of her came with an almost amusing curiosity. At lunchtimes, he would think about what she was eating. Would her eyes be sparkling with pleasure?

Itachi wasn't sure how long he stood out there, merely absorbing the night air as he pondered things, but eventually, he stepped away and decided to shower for bed. After a long, hot shower, Itachi cast a glance at the largely unused Japanese soaking bath in the corner of his large bathroom.

It had been one of the selling points of this apartment, but he'd used it all of twice. Once by himself. Once with Mei.

He hadn't touched it after Mei.

He could still remember their time. The slow kisses. His professions of love. Her answering lies.

She hadn't loved him. Perhaps neither of them had even known what love was, but if it was all it was made out to be, then they hadn't had it. Love wasn't supposed to be a disadvantage, was it?

In Itachi's experience, it had. Everyone that had told him they loved him eventually let him down or abandoned him.

His parents.

Sasuke.

Mei.

Shisui.

Somehow, all the people he let close to him managed to desert him when he needed them the most. So he'd been forced to be self-sufficient. At some point, he had ceased coveting love, companionship, and the various other tropes that one was to expect of those in their circles.

Now he expected just about nothing. So while he was disappointed when Shisui didn't call him first or when he flaked on plans, he didn't really expect anything different. Shisui was one of his favourite people, but recently, Itachi could tell that they were growing apart. The knowledge terrified him, but he was tired of loving more. Of never being able to depend on his feelings being reciprocated.

So now he gave nothing. Expected nothing.

And Mei?

Itachi viewed her as a lesson. Painful but valuable. He'd learned never to base a relationship on how he felt, but on how it could benefit him.

Mei?

Mei had nothing of worth in the end. She'd brought neither wealth, connections, joy nor loyalty. She hadn't brought him respect from his peers. His family detested her. His relationship with her had ultimately ruined the balance. His dogged persistence to be with her had thrown everything out of alignment, and for what? In the end, they had broken up anyway. He hadn't been able to give up everything for her.

And he hadn't been enough for her anyway.

If he was to leave everything behind for her, she wouldn't have wanted him anyway.

Perhaps the thing Itachi had hated the most about his mother was that she had been right and he hadn't seen it. All he'd thought he'd known about being a man had just blinded him in the end.

And despite the feelings Mei had stirred in him, she hadn't brought the kind of substance that a person of his position required for a match to be worth it.

She hadn't loved him enough to face it all, and he hadn't loved her enough to give up everything he had known.

Ultimately they had crumbled.

The notion of such failure filled him with pain and shame to this day.

Turning from the fixture that had turned his thoughts on this path, Itachi put on a pair of underwear and reclined in bed.

He was exhausted, but now he couldn't sleep. He didn't feel to watch anything, and he didn't feel to brave the cold outside to look at the cityscape. In truth, he felt restless and dissatisfied. He wanted to talk to someone, but there was no-one.

Shisui was an option, but truth be told, he was annoyed with his cousin and he didn't want to go where he didn't feel welcome. These days his cousin had an uncanny knack for making him feel like a bother.

His circle had become so small.

He was the only one in it, and he didn't really see the worth in allowing anyone else inside. Not to the centre. Everyone who had breached his walls had ultimately attacked him.

But at times like these, it was easy to fall prey to melancholy.

He eyed his phone. Sighing, he reached for it, not sure who he was going to contact, but turning it on anyway. The device began to vibrate madly the moment it switched on. Most of the notifications were from LN, but there were a few from his mother, some from Shisui, and one from Haruno Sakura.

He dismissed the LN notifications, not one to actually engage with the mass of people following him. His finger hovered over the message from his mother. The emotional exhaustion that tugged at his chest at the thought of answering her questions made him dismiss her messages too.

Shisui…

He was annoyed with Shisui.

Dismissed.

And Sakura-san?

Curious, he previewed the message. Apparently, it was an image.

He opened it to find a selfie she had taken of them at the event. It was funny how a picture could tell a thousand words but nine hundred of those words could be lies. The picture looked… they looked… they looked close. And happy. And like they had something going on.

ㅡ _Should I post this? We look pretty good._

Itachi opened the picture again, and his chest tightened with the strangest longing. If only…

He crushed the thought before it could form completely.

ㅡ _Do you feel for ramen?_

He typed the message in a daze, sent it in a daze, and then noticed that he'd sent it with almost dizzying clarity. Before he could retract it, the message was read. And a response flew in.

ㅡ _Yabai… Are you a ghost?_

Her particular way of saying yes had a chuckle bursting from beneath the fog of disenchantment that was hovering inside his chest cavity.

ㅡ _Should we meet somewhere, or should I pick you up?_

He was sitting up in bed and didn't even realize it, one leg already dangling off his bed, and his toes brushing the soft fronds of his bedroom rug.

ㅡ _It's high time I took you out. Send me your address._

She wanted to pick him up? His brows rose in surprise, but he sent her a map link to his apartment. They decided to go to a casual 24-hr ramen cafe in the suburbs. It was fairly tucked away and had a nice chill spot surrounded by trees.

According to Sakura-san.

Itachi had never been.

After roughly thirty minutes, she messaged him to tell him she was outside. Itachi had pulled on some branded joggers and a plain white T-shirt so he came outside to meet her immediately after getting the message.

Sakura-san leaned over when she saw him approaching and pushed the passenger door open. She smiled at him as he slid inside her sports car.

"This is weird, isn't it? Going for ramen at…" She checked her watch. "-11:48 PM." Itachi merely smiled by way of an answer and pulled his seatbelt across his chest. When the safety device was fastened, Sakura-san gave him a cheeky wink and then peeled away from the curb.

Sweet Kami, this car was fast.

His hand coming up to grab the handle, Itachi's gaze darted down to where Sakura-san was expertly changing the gears. He looked at her in shock.

"What, so because I am a woman I have to want to drive automatic?" she scoffed, easily switching lanes. At this time of night, the road was almost deserted. Sakura-san seemed to be taking full advantage of that.

Before Itachi could answer, she moved on.

"So. Why is a busy guy like you awake right now? Couldn't sleep?" Itachi looked at her, then turned his face to the passing scenery.

"Something like that."

Indeed.

It was funny how now that he was out of the house and in a car with her, he was starting to feel drowsy.

* * *

He had fallen asleep in her car.

They'd been at the ramen cafe for forty minutes but he still hadn't woken. Sakura wasn't sure if she should be amused or annoyed. She didn't really have the heart to wake him, so she just sat there, occupying herself with her phone.

But her gaze kept trailing back to his sleeping form.

He really was quite good-looking. He had a more mature, polished look than Sasuke did, but it was pretty obvious that they were related. His eyelashes were sinfully dark and thick, fanning out on his high cheekbones. His face looked almost unbelievably more approachable now that he was asleep. She wasn't sure how, but she could tell that his features were somehow different.

It was as if an invisible guard had been lowered.

She leaned over him, bracing against the seat as she reached for the lever. Clenching her teeth as she attempted to minimize her movements, Sakura carefully reclined his seat. He made a soft breathy sound and stirred, but did not wake up. Blowing out a slow, steadying breath, Sakura started to pull away.

As she sat safely in the driver's seat, Sakura felt the strangest sense of disappointment. According to all the dramas she watched, that moment was the perfect moment for him to grab her in his sleep or something dramatic. But no… he'd just continued sleeping.

The stupidity of her thoughts was suddenly hilarious.

Her muffled giggling woke him.

He blinked, sleepy and confused and strangely adorable.

He looked over at her in confusion, but Sakura couldn't answer him. His confusion actually made the moment funnier to her.

She began to worry that she was becoming hysterical. It really should not be that funny.

It wasn't funny.

Maybe it was just her life that was a joke.

* * *

 **As usual, haha feed me~~~!**


	23. 7: Winter Vernalagnia (1)

**I have written and rewritten this for what seems like at least 20 times. Writer's block is a major bitch.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Winter Vernalagnia (1)**

 _Vernalagnia (n.): Derived from_ lagneia, _a Greek word meaning "lust,"_ vernalagnia _is a more formal name for what's otherwise known as "spring fever" - a brighter and often more romantic mood brought on by the return of the fine weather in the spring._

He awoke from deep sleep to the sound of her laughter. For a moment, he was completely disoriented. He instinctively knew that this car wasn't his. The scent, the seats, the atmosphere were all foreign.

And her.

He swallowed and sat up, bringing the seat up from a reclined position. He blinked, trying to clear his mind as he took stock of his surroundings.

Ramen.

At the place next to the Boardwalk.

She was reigning in her laughter now, with a hand pressed to her lips. The lights outside reflected off the wetness in her eyes. He looked at her questioningly, one eyebrow pushing upwards slightly.

She shook her head, indicating that she had no answer to give him. Or she didn't want to tell him to his face what made her laugh this much.

"Ramen…?" he offered with a glance at the ramen shop. The Boardwalk was aptly named, sitting right on the long boardwalk next to the sea. It featured a cosy deck with signature black and dark wood decor, with white highlights.

The hot destination offered more than just food. It was an escape. He stepped out of the vehicle before she answered, and subtly stretched his back as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

He couldn't meet her eyes.

Thankfully, there were two steaming bowls of ramen between them to cause them to be sufficiently distracted. He focused instead on the heat pouring upwards from the soupy dish, semi-translucent wisps of greyish white lifting from almost bubbling ramen broth. It carried with it the unmistakable scent of meat that promised intense umami should he indulge in a bite.

The bowl itself was black ceramic, smooth and glossy and perfectly plain; deep enough and thick enough to retain the heat of the meal it held. The ramen broth was a hearty, warm brown that reflected the soft overhead lighting of their booth. Golden noodles emerged above the surface, thick and perfectly done. To one side, succulent slivers of beef, tender even to the eye, lay nestled beside two halves of a boiled egg, the whites surrounding molten yolk. Fresh, chopped spring onion was scattered green flecks across the top, along with a garnish toasted sesame seeds.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't embarrassed. But he was hungry enough for his embarrassment to take second place.

"Itadakimasu…" he muttered under his breath, reaching for the smooth cherry wood chopsticks that lay on the blackened bamboo mat beside his bowl. He had the cutlery poised to take the first swirl of noodles, but Sakura-san reached across the table, blocking him by resting her fingertips against the sides of his index finger and thumb.

"I want to take a picture," she said by way of explanation, reaching for her phone with her free hand.

Itachi sighed inwardly, but gave in, watching with surprising patience as she found the best angle. He raised his brows questioningly as she leaned back, tapping at her phone screen with obvious satisfaction. She looked up at him, her green eyes seemingly mirroring his embarrassment, but trying not to let it show.

"You can go ahead, sorry," she said, turning her phone so he could see the picture, which she had already posted to her social networking accounts.

The dark, woodsy appeal of the photograph was heightened by the intense, warm colours of their beef ramen, framed within the shimmering black of the lacquered clay bowls. She'd added a filter that included a timestamp and captured his hand with chopsticks still in midair. The caption read, 'Late night snacks are always better with… '.

A simple but incredibly misleading caption.

It didn't have to try to hard to send a message that people were obviously already keen to read too much into.

Now that they were here, together, Itachi found he had no idea what to say to her. So he dipped his chopsticks into his bowl, clamped some noodles, and wound them around into a fat knot before leaning forward and taking a bite. The severed ends of the noodles fell back into the soup with a soft 'plop' and a little splash that barely missed his shirt.

He got the sense that Sakura-san was laughing at him again.

"You eat ramen like a girl on a first date," she mocked playfully. "Get in. Enjoy it. It's only the best ramen in the city."

"Hn," he returned, resting his chopsticks down and leaning back, daring her to show the way. She smirked, accepting the challenge, and tucked her hair behind her ears.

She pushed the long sleeves of her black sweater up to her elbows and reached for her chopsticks. With a deft movement, she coiled the noodles around the tips of the wooden cutlery and brought them up to her mouth. Then she slurped, feeding a seemingly everlasting stream of noodles into her mouth until her left cheek bulged. Only then did she bite them loose, her eyelids falling to half mast as she chewed.

Itachi blinked, his gaze moving from his bowl to her face and back again.

She licked away a trail of ramen broth that started to slide down her chin and gestured at his bowl with her chopsticks.

* * *

"So," she began sometime later after they had finished eating. They stood shoulder to shoulder outside the ramen place, leaning against the wooden railing that overlooked the sea. The boardwalk wrapped around the ramen shop and continued for miles into the darkness that lined the beach-front.

"So." He mirrored her, glancing at her profile from the corner of his eyes. She was staring at the shattered reflection of the moon on the black waves.

"We're doing this." It was the kind of statement that was really a question.

"Hn."

"Has anything changed for you…? Since your proposal?" The question was quiet, but not quite tentative.

Curious.

But the question itself required deeper thought than Itachi anticipated. Had anything changed for him?

Yes. He supposed it had. But he wasn't really sure how much it had changed and how much of that change he was willing to explore, much less to reveal.

"I suppose," he replied vaguely, even as his mind whirled.

He didn't see her as a mere means to an end any more. She was her own person with depths he was now aware that he hadn't even begun to explore. He wasn't sure he wanted to explore, but he didn't see that he had much of a choice. Then there was the sheer pleasure of sharing a meal with her.

The experience was undeniably pleasant.

Food was their language. It was their magnetic field. It was what brought them together and connected them. He had never even known that was possible.

"I thought you were a robot," she said softly, her words almost lost in the sea breeze. "I was wrong."

It was the sake.

It must have been.

Sake was the reason they hadn't left the ramen cafe immediately after paying. They'd both had quite a bit to drink - sake was the best closer for a good bowl of ramen - and so neither of them was legally fit to drive.

But the smooth alcoholic beverage had affected them in other ways, Itachi was sure. It must have been the reason why her words somehow made it difficult for him to navigate his own mind. It must have been why when she turned to face him, all he could register were her lips and pink-framed green eyes.

She was too close.

But slowly, suddenly, she was even closer.

And he closed his eyes the moment their lips touched.

Neither of them was a novice. That much became swiftly apparent. It was not to say the kiss was anything but slow. It was measured, initially tentative, and infinitely explorative. In the space of a breath, she tilted her head to the side and her lips fairly melted beneath his.

And then it was his tongue against hers, the sweet residue of sake vaguely present in her mouth, or maybe she was just that sweet. Her lips were soft and warm, moist and pliable, and suddenly his heart was thundering in his chest. He stepped closer to her, caging her between his chest and the boardwalk railing.

His hand had made its way to her waist, and he lifted his lips with the intention of kissing his way to her throat when she pulled away.

"Not a robot," she murmured with a half smile. "Let's take a walk."

But his mind and his body were still reeling.

He followed a few paces behind her, watching her pink hair flutter in the breeze. The kiss had been over before he truly registered it had even been happening, but now that it had happened he was aware that something massive had changed.

It wasn't supposed to happen.

He wasn't supposed to have wanted it.

He should have backed away. Avoided it. Avoided _her_.

But instead, he had responded without so much as a pause.

* * *

 **I would have added more, but I figured you guys had waited long enough. I don't know how long the next instalment will take me, but I am hoping that this signals the end of my writer's block...**

 **As usual, feed me!**


	24. 7: Winter Vernalagnia (2)

**I was hoping to update much earlier than this but writer's block isn't done with me yet, apparently.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Winter Vernalagnia (2)**

At the very least, the kiss had been nice.

It hadn't been earth-shattering, but it had been pleasant. Granted, it hadn't been long, but Sakura had had better. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, which was probably the reason she had done it, and she wasn't entirely sure what it meant.

Perhaps it didn't have to mean anything other than 'it was nice'.

However, for some reason, it had instilled the weirdest sort of peace within her. After pondering for days on end, Sakura came to the inward conclusion that if the kiss had been either terrible or amazing, it would have scared her. Both outcomes would mean that this marriage was doomed to be a horrible mistake.

A terrible kiss would most likely signal an impending and unshakeable awkwardness that would leave their relationship cold and stilted. An amazing, passionate kiss would probably have made her more aware of him than she ought to be, and would most likely land her right back at square one.

Unrequited love.

This mild, pleasant kiss was, for the lack of a better word, _comfortable._

Heaving a deep, calming sigh of relief, Sakura found herself actually looking forward to tonight; looking forward to doing this whole thing with complete confidence. Once again, Ino had been right. This was an opportunity for her. And it couldn't have been more perfect.

Her future husband was good-looking, which she could admit even though he was not her type, wealthy, polite, considerate and fair.

And kissing him had been pleasant.

He didn't make her feel nervous or self-conscious, he didn't look down on her, and he most certainly did not disrespect her. She would never have thought it before, and would never have conceived it, but she strongly believed they could be friends.

He was more mature than Naruto, gentler than Ino, and the complete opposite of Sasuke.

Maybe Ino was right. This could be her chance to discover herself by herself. Maybe she could give herself a break, a chance to be the person she wanted to be. As it was, even though she had her own place, staying there was sure to cause friction with her parents. They'd gotten it for her for real estate value, not for living. If she had rented it out like they continuously hinted she should, they would have been happier, but occasionally she needed a little breathing room to escape.

Her choice of work was another point of contention. Her friends had to be vetted. Her clothing was chosen for her, and if not, whatever she picked for herself was carefully scrutinised and vetted. Every single aspect of her life was meant to be for the benefit of the family. She had only been able to keep writing because she was universally recognized and lauded for it. Her name value added another dimension of excellence to her family's status. But that was about as far as her independence truly went.

In fact, as much as she dated, or tried to date, she knew deep down that it would be her parents' choice, as soon as they decided on who the most advantageous match would be.

This Uchiha Itachi thing was a risk.

He hadn't come up as an option before, and most of the conversations she had with her adoptive parents included an _option._

It was not to say that Sakura was unloved. Well, not always. As a child, she had been almost spoiled. She had excelled at just about everything. She'd met and surpassed their expectations of her, no matter how hard she had to work. She did everything they asked because back then, her greatest fear was falling out of favour in their eyes.

But then she began to get so very tired.

Now, it felt like she had grown too large for the cage she'd been raised in. The cage she'd helped to build.

She'd seen those society women. Many were in her circles - the ones that grew into the shape of their cages which hardened and embittered their spirits as it changed them. She didn't want to follow their lead.

She just wanted to be happy.

Free.

But would marriage be moving from one cage to another? She could not tell, but something told her this was the right move.

Pushing away her heavy thoughts and heaving another cleansing sigh, Sakura decided to get ready for the charity gala with tentative but renewed enthusiasm. She would make the best of this.

* * *

At first, Itachi considered the possibility that he was becoming obsessed.

That kiss had been unexpected, unsteadying, and incredibly distracting. It was all he'd been able to think about. Even while deeply pondering the usual complex business strategies and problems he normally faced with complete concentration, the memory of her lips on his, beneath his, _intertwined_ with his, would ease into his mind so slowly he wouldn't realize it was there until he was conscious he was reliving it.

And his heart didn't race. It thudded.

There was a dangerous, curling anticipation to the way it pounded heavily in the confines of his chest.

If this had happened to him three months ago, he probably would have sought out the advice of his cousin, but for some reason, Itachi was far more inclined to keep his current situation close to the chest. He knew he was pulling inwards in self-preservation, but that didn't, _couldn't,_ stop it from happening anyway.

Shisui hadn't spoken to Itachi, really _spoken_ to him in what was possibly weeks. Not in those deep conversations he'd grown to depend on, anyway. But there he was, lounging on Itachi's office couch, seemingly without a care in the world.

He looked like a musician, right down to his stylish running shoes. Itachi allowed a tilt of his lips as he rested his phone on the coffee table and sat across from his cousin.

"So according to the gossip rags, we have a lot of catching up to do," Shisui started without preamble, a grin stretching his lips. He'd already availed himself of Itachi's whisky, if the amber residue at the bottom of the tumbler dangling from his long, ringed fingers was any indication.

"Hn," Itachi returned. The time for Shisui's interference was long gone, and anything he said now would be beside the point. The train was already in motion, so to speak, and Itachi was not a man who went back on his word.

"Haruno Sakura..." Her name was like velvet in Shisui's mouth, and something about the careful way his cousin enunciated the syllables made Itachi's hackles rise. "I can honestly say I did not see that coming," Shisui continued, rising with almost feline smoothness onto long legs and striding over to Itachi's liquor cabinet.

There was the telltale splash of liquid against glass.

Itachi did not turn to look.

"Are you admitting I surprised you?" he asked instead, on a small chuckle. Shisui paused, before walking back over with a refreshed glass. He plopped down across from Itachi.

"You do know that she and Sasuke dated, right? They were thick as thieves a few years ago."

So Shisui had known all along.

He'd kept it from him, even back then.

"Hn. I'm aware," Itachi returned. Shisui blinked at him.

"Itachi… When I say 'dated' I mean they were together. For years. She was his girlfriend. Apart from Hinata, he hasn't been with anyone for longer than he'd been with Sakura," Shisui stressed, one thick brow raised and his head tilted. His dark eyes looked at Itachi inquiringly, as if completely unconvinced that Itachi understood him.

Itachi understood just fine.

Sasuke and Shisui had both excluded him, then.

Sasuke had hidden this girlfriend of his for years, apparently. Shisui had been in on it. And neither of them had ever breathed a word to him. Itachi suddenly became preoccupied with the expensive lightweight grey tweed of his trouser legs. He hadn't noticed before, but there were fine red and blue threads shooting through the grey. Shisui's words faded into a muted haze in the fringes of his consciousness.

Interesting material, tweed.

"Itachi," Shisui said firmly, breaking through the haze. Itachi pulled in a breath and met his cousin's dark gaze with one of his own. He was aware of a tightness in his jaw.

"Yes?"

"I know you weren't listening. But you gotta know. Sakura is… Well, Sasuke's. You know, the bro code. No exes."

Of all the…

"I was not made aware of that particular detail until after she had accepted my proposal," he admitted stiffly.

"I find that hard to believe," Shisui scoffed. "No background check? That's highly unlike you."

"I'm not interested in her past romantic affairs. Anything not on the public domain was obviously treated discreetly-"

"And you think that was her choice? That was all Sasuke, Itachi. She's in love with him. Has always been," Shisui interrupted. Itachi shifted in annoyance.

"And you assume either of us is marrying for love?" Itachi returned, leaning back against the sofa in an attempt to relax the stiffening muscles in his back.

"I've been watching your social networking sites. You never post about the women you're with. Not even with…" Shisui wisely refrained from saying her name.

However, this meant that Shisui was so out of touch with what Itachi was doing that he believed the LN posts.

It was petty. It was childish. It was positively immature.

But Itachi decided to punish Shisui by letting him believe it.

"We will figure it out on our own," he said vaguely and dismissively before changing the subject.

* * *

The clinking of gold-tipped chopsticks against ceramic was the only real sound in the Sarutobi breakfast room. The air was so tense it was almost visible. Suffice to say, her parents had been apprised of her social media activity and they were not pleased.

Sakura wasn't entirely sure _why_ they were displeased since there was no bad blood that she knew of between the Sarutobi and the Uchiha, but she figured it was because she'd dared to move outside of their edicts.

"You will be attending the gala tonight?" her father asked, but the question was much more of a command.

"Yes," Sakura returned, pinching off a flake of her fish with her chopsticks and resting it on top of her rice. She took a bite, chewed and swallowed before continuing, "I'll be escorted by Uchiha Itachi."

Her parents shared a long look before her father laid down his chopsticks and dabbed at the corners of his lips with a cloth napkin.

"Do you think this flirtation is wise?" he asked, fixing a stern gaze on her.

Meaning he thought it was definitely _unwise._

"Quite so. He seems quite taken with me. Quite soon you could have an Uchiha for a daughter," she murmured as nonchalantly as possible as she took a bite of an egg roll. Silence met her answer. Her parents disliked cavalier behaviour. She was being decidedly cavalier.

"Sakura."

She put down her chopsticks to take a dainty sip of tea. Sakura swallowed.

"Yes, Father?"

There was a little bit of a bite to her mild question and she was certain that they picked up on it. Her mother sent her a slightly worried look and put her chopsticks as well.

"Sakura. With me," she said, rising from the table and sailing upstairs in a swish of teal robes.

Sakura followed, if a bit sullenly, and jumped back in a bit of surprise when her mother whirled on her.

"Sakura, what are you _thinking?"_ she hissed, as soon as Sakura stepped into her dressing room. Sakura blinked, her eyes still a little wide.

"Honestly, Mother, what is the problem? I thought you would be happy for me. I'm in love, and he's an _Uchiha_ , and he's perfect. I don't understand," Sakura whined, playing into the situation and behaving like the spoiled brat they were treating her as. Her mother clenched her teeth and sucked in a fortifying breath.

"You should have spoken to us about it first, Sakura. We heard in the _news._ This needs to be done properly. It needs to be arranged. An omiai should have been conducted. You can't just behave like a _commoner_ and expect them to respect us. _Love?_ You're just going to end up as his whore. A mere dalliance. It might not affect him or his family, but all eyes will be on us when he casts you aside. They will not accept you when the whole world knows you're-"

 _Adopted_.

"Mother," Sakura interrupted, feeling as if someone was burying her in cotton. "That won't happen. We're… why can't you just let me be happy?" As much as this was all a pretence, her mother didn't know, and her response was telling.

Uchiha Itachi was possibly the most eligible man Konoha had to offer.

It was she that wasn't enough.

She had never been enough.

She would never be enough.

No matter what she did, if it was what _she_ wanted, then it would never be enough. Would never be right.

"Why did you even pick me?" she asked, saying the words that she'd always thought out in the open. At her mother's stricken look, she realised she was not brave enough to hear the answer, and so she fled the room.

In her haste to escape, she didn't know where the idea came from, and she only had the vaguest recollection of making her way there, but when the world shimmered back into focus, she was in the lobby of her future husband's office building.

The receptionist was just telling her that she couldn't see him without an appointment when he stepped out of the elevators. He didn't see her immediately, his head turned towards none other than Uchiha Shisui. By the time she lifted her hand, both men had noticed her.

Neither of them faltered, but instead, immediately walked over in her direction. She smiled weakly at Shisui as she moved to meet them halfway, but her attention swivelled to Itachi.

"Sakura-san-"

"Uchiha-san-"

"Long time no see-"

She laughed a little when they all spoke at the same time, and then halted at the same time.

"Sakura-san," Itachi said into the slightly awkward silence that ensued. "Is something the matter? What brought you here?"

"I had a terrible morning," she found herself admitting weirdly easily, "and I wanted to know if you wanted to…" Her words faltered as it occurred to her how silly they might sound.

"...enjoy a meal together," he finished for her with the merest hint of a smile, though not in the words she would have chosen. She folded her lips and looked at him in a mixture of surprise, relief and hope. How had he known?

"As it so happens," he continued, "I was intending to call. I enjoyed our last… meal."

There was a minuscule pause before he said the word 'meal' that made Sakura wonder if he meant something else, but she dismissed it. The kiss hadn't been spectacular enough for him to mention it, though it was a bit nice to think he might possibly be referring to it. Not that he would. He might not be a robot but he wasn't relaxed enough to bring it up in this way.

He most certainly was referring to the ramen, which had been spectacular.

"So did I," she concurred. When she stopped there, he smiled.

"What do you want? My evening is at your disposal."

Sakura grinned, impulsively moving around to place her hand in the crook of his elbow.

Half an hour later, they were seated and preparing to eat.

He watched with undisguised appreciation when she licked her lips in anticipation. The lure of the meal had nothing on those lips.

She'd decided on Korean barbecue. He couldn't have made a better choice himself. She was an expert at the grill, laying and turning the slivers of meat with practised ease.

"I wasn't aware that you and Shisui were acquainted," he said, making conversation. He was also curious.

"We met a few times when…"

When she was with Sasuke.

He was silent for a long moment, watching her grill the meat, then, "It seems they both made a point to conceal your presence from me." It hurt to say the words out loud. It made it feel more like there had been a conspiracy. To have intentionally kept something of that magnitude from him. It made him feel strangely alone.

Sakura lifted a perfectly grilled sliver of pork from the grill, dipped it lightly in the sweet and spicy dipping sauce and gave him a wry smile.

"Maybe they were afraid we'd marry if we met," she half-joked, resting the steaming meat on top of the fluffy rice in his bowl.

Somehow, her words and her actions comforted him.

* * *

 **Well then. I'd say this is officially underway haha. Sorry to make you guys wait so long.**

 **Review~~**


	25. 7: Winter Vernalagnia (3)

**I love you guys so much. I am posting this quickly to make up for the waiting you have already done.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Winter Vernalagnia (3)**

"Where did your love of food come from?" Itachi found himself asking. Sakura-san smiled immediately, obviously going back to a fond memory.

"When I was very little, my parents went on a trip to Amegakure, and their destination was not suitable for children," she started, turning a sizzling piece of beef. "They left me with the housekeeper, and _oh,_ I cried for _hours._ I was only four or five at the time, but I was _convinced_ that I was old enough and I was so angry that I had been left behind. I was also terrified that they would _never_ come back for me because I'd been a bad girl at daycare," she said, her lips twisting upwards in amusement.

"I was positively inconsolable. Until Mizukashi-san decided to make me a bento. Oh, it was _marvellous._ It had all my favourite animals, made of food. My favourites were the little rice bunnies and the egg roll kittens. She still makes them for me in my birthdays," she said with a chuckle. "After that, every time I was sad, she would soothe me with comfort food. Pretty soon, I began to cook with her, keeping my hands busy while I confided in her. Her kitchen was the warmest, most accepting place in my life," she finished on a wistful sigh before resting the grilled beef on her rice and taking a bite.

Jealousy nibbled at the fringes of his heart.

Had his own life been so very cold?

Not for the life of him could he figure out what made his body and soul vibrate with passion and joy. When Sakura spoke about writing - he had watched some of her interviews - it was obvious that her craft was her passion. But to truly see her light up with joy, food was the key. He prayed that she wouldn't ask so he wouldn't have to admit it out loud that he didn't know what made him react that way.

But then she did.

"What about you? What do you just _love_?"

He scoured his mind for his happiest memories. For something to compare with the heartwarming notion of a gentle, loving childhood caregiver.

Panic turning his stomach just a little bit under her expectant gaze when he couldn't pull forward anything particularly exciting. There had only been ruthless study and the desperation for approval in his memories.

"Dango," he found himself saying, trying to ignore the familiar gut-wrenching pain that accompanied that memory. He would only tell the happy part to appease the interested, curious light in her eyes.

"There was a girl… In high school. She would make dango to wish me luck before exams," he supplied. He'd never told anyone about her. Not even Shisui.

He knew she'd had a crush on him, but he'd never acknowledged her or her affections because he had been so terrified of what would happen if he did.

He'd never admitted to anyone how precious her small gifts had been to him. He'd never told anyone of the rush of warm pleasure he'd felt whenever he opened her presents and read her sweet, encouraging notes. She'd tried so hard to be his secret admirer, and he'd accepted the gifts, but he'd never _ever_ let on that he'd found her out. Or that he'd watch with ill-contained gratitude and unfamiliar happiness when she tried to secretly hide them in his usual haunts.

He'd never told anyone that he had liked her back, even before she had started giving him gifts.

He'd listened to every happy word she'd said in the classroom, pretending to study while he watched her with everything except his eyes.

He never told anyone about the notes he wrote back just to express the feelings that made him feel he would explode if he tried to contain them; notes he burned immediately because he couldn't afford to leave evidence.

For fear that she'd be taken from him just like everything else he'd loved, he'd never acknowledged, protected or even spoken to her.

She'd for him done what she did regardless.

And she had been taken from him anyway.

And no one had known that he'd seen her die. They all thought that it had been his vigorous studying habits that blackened his eyes when it was really the traumatic memory of her bent, broken body and the sight of that crushed little box of dango that had been left in the street with the rest of the wreckage.

No one at school had been aware that it had been his fault.

He hadn't even been worthy of his guilt, and the fact that that box of dango that he'd been so looking forward to was the reason she'd been on that road in the first place made him work through the pain that made him physically sick. He'd sat his exams while roasting with fever and managed to reach back to his room before collapsing into a near comatose state.

The other teens had been impressed with his emotionless face when he accepted his awards for coming first in just about every academic ranking at that level.

 _He's a genius, so I suppose it was expected._

 _Did you hear? He aced every single exam. 100% across the board. Is he a computer?_

None of them knew that he'd died and been buried with Hanamura Ami.

Sakura-san herself seemed unaware of the inner turmoil that had surfaced with her innocent question, unaware that she now held a piece of him that no one knew even existed. She continued speaking blithely, chattering about everything and nothing. He didn't know what she was saying because he could no longer hear her.

"Well," Sakura said when they had finished eating and he had taken her home. "I suppose we will see each other again tonight," she continued brightly. Itachi's body felt numb, but the smile he gave her was genuine.

"Hn," he agreed, giving her a little bow and watching as she disappeared into her house with a cheerful 'Until then!'

* * *

They had coordinated colours to make the maximum impact when they entered the Uzumaki Naara Building in the centre of the city. Her evening gown was a narrow midnight blue flute with short sleeves and intricate gold detailing over the bodice, getting sparser as it neared her waist. To highlight the detailing, the only jewellery she wore was a narrow, plain gold bracelet and one pearl earring that dangled almost to her shoulder on a fine gold stem that played hide-and-seek in the soft pink waves of her hair whenever she moved her head.

Itachi-san wore a deep blue jacket with a crisp white shirt, simple but classy in keeping with his usual style. They drew the attention of all around when they stood for pictures in the entryway of the event.

For the first time in a long time, Sakura was nervous at this type of event. It had nothing to do with the event itself and more with formally meeting Itachi-san's mother. The last time they had met, Sakura had been carefree because this had not yet been _real._ She had been in denim shorts for Kami's sake.

Now that Itachi-san was actually becoming her friend, it put a different spin on things.

She greeted the familiar faces as they entered, talking and laughing and enjoying the hint-riddled questions into her and Itachi's relationship status, but all the while, her eyes were peeled, looking for the familiar beautiful face.

Then, there she was, standing in a circle of what must have been fifteen to twenty eager women, mothers and socialites alike. Her own mother was in their midst, smiling and laughing in response to whatever was being said. Sakura and Itachi both made a beeline for Uchiha Mikoto, neither of them faltering for even a moment as soon as they spotted her. One of the women must have seen their approach, for she whispered something to Mikoto, who paused what she was saying to turn.

Sakura's smile faltered when Mikoto-san turned to face her. Her nervous anticipation hardened to brittle fear when she saw the look of disgust in the older woman's eyes.

"Sarutobi-san," she cooed. "Or is it Haruno-san? I'm not clear on exactly which family you are a part of," she continued, her voice sweet but her eyes as bitter as wormwood. Itachi stiffened at her side, his arm turning to steel under her palm, but he didn't have a chance to answer.

"What _are_ your origins, anyway? What do your birth parents do?" she asked, seemingly genuinely interested. If the looks of morbid interest on the faces of the other women were any indication, no one was fooled by her shallow pretence. They all sensed the impending drama and leaned forward for a good view. Sakura herself felt very faint.

She _knew._

Sakura has indeed looked into her birth parents, and she'd found them. Her father had died while driving drunk and killing a young family of four, but her mother was still alive. Reputedly giving up a life on her back, her birth mother was beautiful and charming and ran a flower shop and hot spring at a mountain retreat deep in the interior of Kaminari no Kuni. She still kept the name 'Haruno', which Sakura had adopted and written under in hopes that she would be found.

But then she had realised over the years that her mother hadn't claimed her and never would because she truly didn't want her. She'd told the private detective that she never had a child but their likeness was too similar for that to be true.

"I…" Sakura began, but her tongue had turned to ashes in her mouth and her brain had been reduced to sand.

"My Itachi is such a sweet soul. He has a love for common, _unfortunate_ things like strays," she paused at the word then launched into a story about a wounded mangy dog he'd found once, feeding it before leading it to the pound. In any other instance, the story would have been charming. In this situation, however…

"He knew better than to keep the poor bitch, thankfully, so he set it free. He knew those things come riddled with _disease_. Best to keep a distance. Especially when you don't know where something has _been._ "

Sakura's head was spinning in pain, embarrassment and utter mortification.

Her _adoptive_ mother had gone pale with rage and embarrassment.

Mikoto-san looked around knowingly, her cruel black eyes passing over Sarutobi Kitara.

"I do admire _those_ that help the poor orphans and foundlings around the world. We Uchiha contribute millions in their aid, but a vague family background is such a dangerous thing. The predilections, hereditary diseases and disorders that _lurk_ in the genes can be astounding. One man's _trash_ is _just_ that-"

Sakura never heard the rest of Mikoto-san's words over the sudden rushing in her ears. That must be her sand-brain, pouring out of her skull through every opening in her head. She took an unsteady step backwards, conscious that she had not managed to say even one word to Itachi-san's mother. She had barely even managed to open her mouth before she had been reduced to a disease-ridden mangy bitch of unknown origin in all of two minutes.

Her legs felt like they had been vapourized. She didn't know; she couldn't feel them. Her heart was thundering in her chest, which must have been some sort of miracle, because she was sure that Uchiha Mikoto had just taken the most painful thing in her life, set it on fire and invited others along to watch the resulting fireworks as Sakura's heart exploded.

The cluster of women turned away, and the conversation moved on to a different topic as if Sakura had imagined the whole thing. The only indication was the looks of pity combined with distaste in the looks of the women in the group as they glanced furtively at her.

Her chest burned and she felt nauseous and weak.

She almost cried with relief when her Kitara stepped forward and grabbed her hand. She'd forgotten that Itachi-san was still beside her until her hand slipped from his arm as her mother dragged her away.

"Okaa-san," she warbled as her mother pulled her past curious stares and into the privacy of the passageways that led to the back entrance of the building. Her heart, despite the near-debilitating pain that was crushing it, swelled with love, gratitude and relief.

When all was said and done, _this_ was her mother.

"Okaa-san," she said again and just hearing herself saying the word comforted her. _Mom._

Her eyes began to slide closed as she stepped forward for her mother's sure embrace.

It never came.

She felt the pain in the back of her neck before the skin of her cheek ever registered the hot sting in her cheek that resulted from the savage slap. The force of her mother's hand connecting with her face was great enough to send her head snapping sideways and a loud report echoing down the hallway. Her mother's flushed face had gone mottled red with fury.

"Okaa-" Sakura began in hurt confusion as fresh, intense pain seized her entire body. She felt as if her corporeal existence had been reduced to a cheek, a heart and burning, sightless eyes.

Those were the only parts of herself that she could feel.

"I _told_ you," her mother hissed. "I _told_ you, and you… You _witless, willful child_ … you didn't _listen!_ We told you that this flirtation would come to _nothing_ ," she snarled. Her disappointment needed no verbal expression. It was in her dark brown eyes that had hardened until they were almost black. "Go to your flat tonight. You have no idea what you have _cost_ us, you stupid child! I don't want your father to see your face when he hears about this. I have no idea what he will do."

And then she was gone in a flustered whirlwind of green silk.

Sakura's legs finally gave way but strong arms kept her from making a graceless descent to the floor.

And then she was sobbing.

Deep, gut-wrenching wails that made her throat raw and her face swell. An unbearable cold overtook her, and she wasn't sure if she was shuddering because of the chill or her hot tears.

* * *

Itachi's entire body had gone numb.

It was happening again.

Sakura sighed, looking impossibly tired as if standing there leaning against the wall was taking all the energy she had. Standing there took all the effort _he_ had. He didn't know if the fact that they were not in love made tonight's events better or worse.

His jacket seemed to swallow her, and no trace of midday's vivaciousness remained. It was as if that Sakura had been a dream that burned away under the force of the scorching sun.

What was she really doing this for, that she would endure that assault?

It occurred to Itachi that he really didn't know her at all.

His body still vibrated from the remnants of her body-shaking sobs.

What other hidden depths simmered behind her sad, green eyes?

"Sakura-san," he began. He needed to provide her with an escape before she became Mei all over again. She looked over at him, her eyes barely able to withstand the weight of lifting her gaze to meet his. She seemed to be on the verge of tears again. The red handprint had begun to whale. It would probably bruise.

"Hm?" she intoned, obviously unable to manage much more than that.

"Should we stop? We will have no support." He was half-hoping she would want to give up, even though he knew that if she did, he would lose his inheritance. He wasn't sure it was worth her pain.

"Do _you_ want this? Do you want _me?_ " Her voice was thick and hesitant.

Itachi thought before he answered. She was still standing. There was no anger in her eyes, even though he hadn't defended her. She wasn't Mei.

"Yes," he said, firm and convinced. Her eyes watered, and for the second time tonight, she was crying into his chest. He held her close, guilt rendering his skin too tight and too tight. Like he didn't fit into himself.

"Sakura-san… This type of thing will probably happen again," he warned, resisting the urge to press his face into her soft, fragrant hair. She smelled like spring. Floral and feminine.

But this embrace was not meant for his comfort.

He didn't deserve it.

"I know," she replied sadly, her words muffled in the now wet material that covered his chest. He swallowed.

"I would not blame you if…" He couldn't finish the sentence. She jerked backwards so she could look directly into his face. Her shoulders had stiffened slightly.

"Are you my friend, Itachi-san?"

What?

"I… yes." What else could he say?

"I don't abandon my friends," she said fiercely through the tears that still leaked from her eyes. "Let's do that if nothing else. Let's just be there for each other. We don't have to agree on things. We don't even have to get involved in each other's affairs, but let's not abandon each other. Can we do that?" she pleaded, her eyes begging him to _understand._

He gave her a short, truncated nod.

"I fear… I fear that we will be all we have," he murmured.

"Then let's be all that we need, hmm?" she asked with a sniffle. She looked back in the direction of the ballroom. "I can't go back in there… Do you want to go somewhere with me?"

He would do anything she wanted.

He gave her a slow nod.

She sniffed again, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands in an innocently childish manner and offering him a tremulous smile that almost broke his heart. She reached for his hand with one of hers and lifted the hem of her gown with the other.

He wasn't in love with her.

Really, he wasn't, but he was conscious that she was the fastest friend he had ever made.

* * *

 **Thanks so much for reading and giving your thoughts and suggestions. I hope this chapter gave deeper insight into Itachi and Sakura's lives and backgrounds.**

 **Review~~**


	26. 8: Shifting Sands (1)

**Omg you guys~~ Thanks so much for the reviews ❤️❤️❤️! Again, I'm really sorry that chapters are so short but they would take forever for me to upload if I had my way** **ㅠㅠ**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Shifting Sands (1)**

"What is your name?"

Big brown eyes blinked at him then looked up at the teenager standing next to them for assurance. At her encouraging nod, the toddler turned back to Itachi with fledgeling confidence.

"Cookie."

His heart melted. He already knew her name was Kurama Kira, but the fact that she'd accepted the nickname given to her by the other kids was adorable. It was the combination of the first characters in her family and given names.

He gave her the floppy pink bear she had been eyeing since she had entered the room.

It was unfair.

Life.

This was something Itachi had always known, but staring into Cookie's big brown eyes caused a painful refresher of the notion.

"Thank you for the bear. It's my favourite," she said, her voice low and childishly husky. She clutched the soft, pink Teddy bear to her tiny chest and looked at him with a strange wariness, as if she was curious about him but didn't want to get too close. The urge to ruffle her hair was strong, but she didn't have any hair to ruffle.

She'd lost it all.

Besides, he didn't know if touching her would cause her more pain than she already existed in.

"Hn," he returned softly, any other words he could have said fading into mist in his throat. Mist that floated up, up and made its way to his eyes. He blinked it away.

He opened his mouth to try to say more, but the four-year-old grabbed the hand of an older girl and walked away to make way for the next child. His gaze followed her until she disappeared down a corridor, and then he turned back to the child in front of him and tried to smile.

He had no idea that this was what Sakura-san had in mind when she asked him to go somewhere with her.

"Sometimes it's better to give directly to the person who should receive," she'd murmured cryptically. He'd only understood what she meant when they pulled into the Taibachi Pediatric Cancer Centre parking lot. It was one of the two charitable enterprises that Sakura-san sponsored. She donated to quite a few, but she was actively involved with the TPCC. The only child Itachi had any experience with was Mikina, and she was like a tiny female version of himself.

Apparently, Sakura-san had informed them that she would be making an appearance, because her arrival seemed to be expected. There was an entire wing dedicated to her.

The Sakura Wing.

That was where they were now, meeting the current inpatients. Some of them were new faces for Sakura, but she had come prepared with gifts for them anyway. She'd brought things suitable for various age groups.

Once again, she was a different person.

She was… vibrant.

It was a different, warmer, softer glow than the brightness she exuded when she talked about food or writing. It made something in his chest ache with jealousy.

Or longing.

He didn't really know.

Most of the kids here were accompanied by guardians who profusely thanked Sakura whenever they got a chance to get close to her. There were kids, though, that were conspicuously alone.

Cookie was one of those.

And she looked around the room with undisguised sadness.

"Where are Cookie's guardians?" he asked a nurse sometime later. A bitter expression crossed the nurse's face before she could hide it.

"I can't give out patient information," she said then, reverting to her professional mask.

"I need to contact them about sponsorship," he found himself saying. She heaved a sigh.

"You will have to make your inquiries with the foundation office," she said. "If they can even reach that woman," she muttered under her breath before sighing and telling Itachi to follow her. Itachi didn't like the suspicion that was curling in his stomach based on her behaviour.

"Is she not… Involved?" he asked as they walked to the office. The nurse glanced at him askance before she reluctantly answered.

"You never heard this from me… But if that woman shows up even once a month that would be considered frequent. Cookie's alone most of the time, and she's been here for almost seven months now. And whenever her mother comes, she reeks of alcohol. I think CPS is holding off on making a move because she's sick. Not much the state can do to help her, and fostering will be impossible. No one _wants_ a sick baby."

He could hear the frustrated pity in her voice.

He could see it on her face.

He felt it like a rock in the centre of his heart.

Life was so unfair.

* * *

Life.

Life was so unfair.

Sometimes, Shisui figured Kami had made his life as a joke. A sick joke.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he barely noticed the blonde on top of him or her gasps of pleasure as she found her release. She was like ambient sensations.

He didn't find his release, but he didn't care. It didn't matter. He rolled away from her, pushing her brusquely from his body and reaching for his phone. He knew it would only cause him pain, but he opened his LN app and scrolled through the feeds.

He stared at Itachi's timeline and resisted the urge to throw his phone across the room.

The blonde in bed with him smoothed a hand over his chest and snuggled closer to his back. He resisted the urge to throw her across the room too. He'd gone to her on impulse, on auto mode when he saw Sakura and Itachi together.

He was conscious of the fact that it was pathetic, but he'd been so lost in thought that it wasn't until she was on him that he registered what he was doing. Then he wanted to be sick.

But then the urge to distract himself had taken over it and he'd just gone with the flow.

Sometimes he was so tired of the series of lies that his life had become. He had no one to blame but himself, of course, but that didn't make him like it any more.

His persona was a lie.

His job was a lie.

The way he was viewed had been formed from a very unhappy coincidence… a coincidence that had become a lie over time. Now, he had no idea what to do to make it right.

He'd missed the timing.

Again.

He should be used to this by now, but he really wasn't.

He wished he could hate Itachi, but his cousin was so damned innocent and humble it was impossible. There was Itachi's surface level appeal, of course, but he was very commonly misunderstood. His true personality, on the other hand, was…

There was no way to compete.

When Shisui had first met Sakura she had been with Sasuke. Shisui had been completely entranced. Of course, he'd brushed it off with his usual playful flirtation but his heart had pounded with the force of a jackhammer every time he saw her. He'd known, even back then, that her relationship with Sasuke wouldn't last, and when they'd finally parted he'd been… excited. His heart had broken for her, but he'd been happy she was not in that relationship anymore.

Whereas Sasuke made Hinata a better person, and vice versa, Sasuke was like sugar-covered poison to Sakura. He was toxic. Shisui, on the other hand, was confident that if given the chance, he could make her very happy. They were both active, vibrant people that, when romantically attached, tended to be faithful. Even though Shisui's life told a different story, he was a long-term relationship kind of guy.

It was the reason he didn't _have_ relationships. He knew it wouldn't make sense to lead someone on when he would leave them in an instant the moment Sakura became available or showed interest in him.

He was incapable of forgetting her. No matter how hard he'd partied, or how many models he met or slept with, he still found himself enslaved by her social media accounts. He followed her because he starved for her.

So he had one night stands. A few friends with benefits. A few repeat offenders.

But Sakura was never far from his mind.

Now more than ever.

But once again, he'd missed the timing. The timing wasn't right. She still had remnants of that _look._ That slightly haunted look that had lingered in her eyes ever since Sasuke had broken up with her. Back then, he hadn't known how to be there for her, how to be close to her without attempting to press his advantage. It would have coloured everything, and the last thing he wanted was for her to find out his feelings and view all his actions as having had been coloured by guile.

So he'd kept his distance. He'd kept his heart available. Well. He hadn't wanted anyone else that way. He'd just had meaningless flings while he waited for her. Transitory events and people that kept the loneliness and the need at bay.

And somehow, he had become this whole other person on the outside. It was as if his skin was a costume and he was entirely different underneath. He acted his role on autopilot, and then occasionally saw himself in the mirror and didn't recognise himself.

"Babe…" the blonde murmured groggily when he suddenly sat up in bed, his body almost vibrating with restless energy. He _loved_ her. He loved her the way he knew no one else did. Sasuke had been incapable and he was _positive_ that Itachi was unwilling. After Mei…

That was another story.

Mei.

In some ways, he supposed he'd dodged a bullet, but mainly he'd been embarrassed. Hurt. Lonely.

And very jealous.

He had given up on Mei because there was nothing he could offer that Itachi couldn't. No matter what anyone said or how it had turned out, Itachi and Mei had enjoyed a real and rare connection. So he'd swallowed his feelings as best he could and endeavoured to support them.

It was almost funny how similar the situation was while being entirely different. When telling the story of Itachi and Mei's great and terrible and painful love, people rarely conveyed the truth of how Itachi and Mei had even met. They rarely remembered the reality of that situation.

On one hand, maybe that was because Shisui hadn't made much of it. It had been too late, in any case, and too hopeless a case for him to make his presence at their meeting an important detail.

But on the main, when Itachi was involved, people rarely remembered Shisui, period. Once, on a high school camping trip, everyone had been in a tizzy because no one knew where Itachi was when it was time to leave. Shisui had offered to go and look for him and had been ultimately left behind when Itachi returned shortly after Shisui started looking, completely oblivious that anyone had even been worried.

The bus had turned back for him after about thirty minutes, but by then Shisui had already come to the conclusion that he had been less important. He'd laughed the whole thing off, but he'd never forgotten and it hurt to this day. And thus, the lie that was his life had really begun.

His relationship with Itachi was a strange one. As it turned out, Itachi was the only one that remembered him. He had never and could never doubt Itachi's love for him. But it was like being loved by the reason no one else could love him. And so Shisui existed in a realm of love, resentment and guilt, because he knew inherently that Itachi didn't deserve to be resented for something he had no control over.

So he had tried to rise above it.

Initially, Shisui had decided to pursue his fledgling talent for music because the clan had tried their hardest to stop him. The attention had been heady. It had been what he craved. It had proved that they had wanted him after all.

Then Itachi had stepped in to _shield_ and protect him from the perceived persecution of the clan.

He'd worked twice as hard and ten times as smartly, with the best of intentions. He'd quietly and diligently arranged things so that Shisui could live his 'dream'. By the time Shisui had realized what Itachi had done, and how much he'd sacrificed to do it, he couldn't at that point confess that his antics were merely a childish scream for attention; that music was not what he wanted after all.

He'd been weak to Itachi's solemn, genuine generosity and the protective gleam in his black eyes and he'd somehow swallowed his pride and his spine.

The only place that he'd felt he could truly express himself was with his music.

And then he had met Mei.

She had come to the studio to deliver coffee, and he'd _fallen_. Not that day, and not the next. It had taken him almost eight months, gallons of coffee and hundreds of conversations to come to the conclusion that he loved her. Then it had taken him another four months to convince her to meet him outside of work.

He would have taken her for coffee, but considering her job, he convinced her to join him for wine instead. The date had started so well Shisui had been filled with the heady possibility that it was possible for them to have a relationship.

But then Itachi had spotted them and approached, as he'd happened to be there for a drink as well, and before Shisui could finish making the introductions, he'd _watched_ Mei fall in love.

Shisui wasn't a believer in love at first sight, but Mei and Itachi had instantly _recognised_ something in each other and the immediate connection between them was so rare and tangible that, even as an outsider, he'd felt it.

For once again, that was what Shisui had become.

An outsider.

The blonde snuggled up against his back, her breathing suddenly seeming loud in the room.

She wouldn't know a connection if it kicked her in the ass.

She whispered that she loved him.

He didn't answer her.

He never did.

He knew love. He had loved Mei. Mei had loved Itachi. He loved Sakura. Sakura had loved Sasuke. He didn't know how Itachi felt about Sakura, not really, but he knew Sakura wasn't in love with Itachi.

He knew that in his gut.

If he wanted to have her, he would have to get to her now, before she inevitably fell.

Or before Itachi ruined her the way he'd ruined Mei.

He rolled off the bed, his body itching with the urgent need to wash the remnants of his lover off him.

He wouldn't be touching her again.

"We're over. We established from the beginning that there would be no strings attached," he said, not even trying to maintain his usual happy, cavalier facade. "You can let yourself out." Then, he shut the bathroom door on her surprised tears. All he was capable of feeling was annoyed that she'd agreed to the terms, then tried to change their relationship midstream.

* * *

Life was funny.

It was incredible how many different things had to happen, how many variables completely outside of her life and control had to occur for this present moment and feeling to come about.

She would have never conceived the possibility of becoming _friends_ with Uchiha Itachi. She would never really have _wanted_ to, had things not gone precisely the way they had. As it was, she was discovering that Itachi-san was turning out to be quite a good friend. He made her comfortable.

And he was kind.

She could sense it.

At no point in their interaction had she felt the need to be anyone other than herself, and it was incredibly freeing. It also made her realize that she wasn't really herself with anyone else.

Not even with Ino.

Sometimes she felt the need to project a sort of bravado in Ino's presence.

"Thank you."

Sakura turned in surprise at the words that broke the silence in the car. Itachi-san didn't say more, merely glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Sakura smiled softly in response and turned to look out the window.

It had been a strange day, but his gentle presence had turned things around. There was only one thing left to make the end of the day perfect.

"Itachi-san?" she started a few minutes later. He didn't respond, but she felt that he was listening.

"Do you want to come over? For a meal…" she hastened to add when she saw his eyebrow rising.

A small smile lingered on his lips, but he did not reply.

Still, Sakura knew he would take her up on her offer.

* * *

 **It's been far too long, hasn't it!**

 **I kept getting stuck at this point in the chapter because I felt the need to make it longer, but I decided ultimately not to stress it!**


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